This article discussed the recent capture of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, military commander of Taliban forces in Afghanistan, by Pakistan and American intelligence officials. Baradar was captured late last week, and is currently being held by Pakistani intelligence officials. Both Pakistan and the US are cooperating to interrogate Baradar in attempts to gain information about the locations of other Taliban officials, especially the spiritual leader of the Taliban Mullah Mohammed Omar.
I thought this piece was interesting for its discussion of the relationship between the US and Pakistan regarding Pakistan's policy towards the Afghani Taliban. In the past, Pakistan supported the Afghani Taliban (unofficially, of course), hoping that when the US left Afghanistan, that they would have an ally in Afghanistan. Now, Pakistan has realized that, with the Afghani and Pakistani Talibans supporting one another, that their support of the Taliban aids a grave threat to the stability of the current Pakistani government. I thought this change was interesting because it shows how far a country will go to ensure that one of their neighbors is an ally. The fact that the Taliban represented an exact opposite form of government from the government in Pakistan was no deterrent.
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