Plenty of information, little action
Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud today “denied the Pakistan government’s claims that he was behind the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.” (Al Qaeda did claim credit for the assassination of “the most precious American asset which vowed to defeat mujahadeen”.) Meshud’s denial came after the Pakistani government released this widely quoted transcript of a phone conversation:
Maulvi Sahib: Congratulations, I just got back during the night.
Baitullah Mehsud: Congratulations to you, were they our men?
Maulvi Sahib: Yes they were ours.
Baitullah Mehsud: Who were they?
Maulvi Sahib: There was Saeed, there was Bilal from Badar and Ikramullah.
Baitullah Mehsud: The three of them did it?
Maulvi Sahib: Ikramullah and Bilal did it.
Baitullah Mehsud: Then congratulations.
So Baitullah Mehsud was apparently recorded speaking with a field coordinator of the attack, if the transcript is accurate and his voice can be identified. That would appear to be pretty damning evidence. But that’s hardly the most interesting part of the conversation. Here’s more:
Maulvi: Where are you? I want to meet with you?
Mehsud: I am in Makin. Come I am at Anwar Shah’s home.
Maulvi Sahib: OK I will come.
Mehsud: Do not inform their family presently.
Maulvi Sahib: Right.
Mehsud: It was a spectacular job. They were very brave boys who killed her.
Maulvi Sahib: Praise be to God. I will give you more details when I come.
Mehsud: I will wait for you. Congratulation once again.
Baitullah Mehsud thus was waiting in Makin (photos here), a village in South Waziristan “at Anwar Shah’s home.” With a little luck, you might be able to find Mr. Shah’s house on Google Earth. Certainly its location, whether a safe house or not, should not be that difficult to locate for people who are already listening to his phone calls. It would seem simple enough to capture or dispatch this Taliban commander who is apparently responsible for the death of Benazir Bhutto.
So why is this fellow Meshud still roaming free? Wikipedia may or may not give us a hint: “The principal villages of the Mahsuds are Makin and Kanigurram…A large number of Mahsuds are employed in the Army.” Musharraf would appear to have quite a situation on his hands.
UPDATE
Let’s not forget that in Pakistan: “According to poll results, bin Laden has a 46 percent approval rating. Musharraf’s support is 38 percent.” You may judge for yourself whether US presidential candidates of either party as well as administration officials who blandly speak of democracy as a solution to Pakistan’s ills really understand the complexity of that country.
UPDATE II
Still unexplained is the very peculiar behavior of the Musharraf administration, whose explanations for the precise cause of Bhutto’s death appear to be contradicted by videos of the incident, as well as other evidence. Very strange indeed. And now this:
Caretaker Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz Khan has asked the media and people to “forgive and ignore” comments made by his ministry’s spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema which were slammed by her Pakistan People’s Party as “lies” and led to an uproar at home and abroad. The Interior Minister made the apology during a briefing for Pakistani newspaper editors on Monday. Punjab province on Tuesday issued a front-page advertisement in newspapers that offered a reward of Rs 1 crore for information about a gunman and a suspected suicide bomber seen in the photos and video footage of the assassination.
Pretty stupid thing to lie about, especially with all the cameras.