# Iraq: Should the troops be withdrawn or drastically increased? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 8, 2007, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iraq-should-the-troops-be-withdrawn-or-drastically-increased/399165 "2007-04-08T06:22:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iraq-should-the-troops-be-withdrawn-or-drastically-increased/399165/141 "2007-04-13T23:22:59Z")
[QUOTE=Ryan\_Liam] They weren’t legitimate to start from, those ‘indigenous Talibs’ were in fact trained and propped up by the ISI across the border into Pakistan. [/QUOTE] ISI? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iraq-should-the-troops-be-withdrawn-or-drastically-increased/399165/142 "2007-04-13T23:36:20Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] ISI? [/QUOTE] [Inter-Services Intelligence](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter-Services_Intelligence) of Pakistan. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iraq-should-the-troops-be-withdrawn-or-drastically-increased/399165/143 "2007-04-13T23:42:58Z")
[QUOTE=Der Trihs] [Inter-Services Intelligence](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter-Services_Intelligence) of Pakistan. [/QUOTE] Why would they have wanted a Taliban regime in Afghanistan, considering that the Pakistani Taliban is giving the government no end of trouble? (See [here.](http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070416/usher)) ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iraq-should-the-troops-be-withdrawn-or-drastically-increased/399165/144 "2007-04-13T23:51:15Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Why would they have wanted a Taliban regime in Afghanistan, considering that the Pakistani Taliban is giving the government no end of trouble? (See [here.](http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070416/usher)) [/QUOTE] Because they are as amoral and dumb as our own government ? How often have we subsidised people who turned against us ? I don’t _know_ that they have; but I’ve been hearing they have for years, and that Wiki article mentions their alleged support for the Taliban as well. ---
**Author:** ![FRDE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e68b1a/32.png) [@FRDE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FRDE)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2007, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iraq-should-the-troops-be-withdrawn-or-drastically-increased/399165/145 "2007-04-14T03:02:39Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Why would they have wanted a Taliban regime in Afghanistan, considering that the Pakistani Taliban is giving the government no end of trouble? (See [here.](http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070416/usher)) [/QUOTE] The ISI were the conduit through which the USA supplied the Mujahadin, they have the contacts reaching into Afghanistan. Ten years of friendly relations with freedom fighters kicking out the Russians, don’t break down overnight. I’m not sure that it is the Taliban who are giving the Pakistan government trouble, it is more tribal relatives of Afghanis who are pretty primitive. That article is slightly spurious, the PPP is Bhutto’s party, they are not militant Moslems and Pakistan did not ‘change sides in the war on terror’, they (the government) have been pro-USA since the inception of Pakistan - it is to do with India being pro-USSR. I see it as a spectrum with the Pakistani government at one end and the Taliban in Afghanistan and on the border at the other. Also I rather doubt that the Taliban really understood what Al Qaeda were up to. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2007, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iraq-should-the-troops-be-withdrawn-or-drastically-increased/399165/146 "2007-04-14T05:58:32Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] 😕 There’s one in Iraq that matters? Or in the U.S.? [/QUOTE] :dubious: I repeat. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2007, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iraq-should-the-troops-be-withdrawn-or-drastically-increased/399165/147 "2007-04-14T05:59:54Z")
[QUOTE=FRDE] . . . - it is to do with India being pro-USSR. [/QUOTE] :dubious: Cite? ---
**Author:** ![FRDE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e68b1a/32.png) [@FRDE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FRDE)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2007, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iraq-should-the-troops-be-withdrawn-or-drastically-increased/399165/148 "2007-04-14T06:43:52Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] :dubious: Cite? [/QUOTE] Not a perfect cite > **[Foreign relations of India](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_India#Brief_history)** > > India, officially the Republic of India, has full diplomatic relations with 201 states, including Palestine, the Holy See, Niue and the Cook Islands.\[note 1\] The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is the government agency responsible for the conduct of foreign relations of India. With the world's third largest military expenditure, second largest armed force, fourth largest economy by GDP nominal rates and third largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity, India is a prominent region... > [@](#): > > In 1962, India detected Chinese infiltration into Indian territory, which resulted in a brief war between the two. India has remained suspicious towards China since then. China also became a close ally of Pakistan, India’s neighbor, adding to the rift between the two. Even though, there has been a significant improvement in trade and diplomatic relations, India remains wary of China. > > After the Sino-Indian War and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, India made considerable changes to its foreign policy. It developed a close relationship with the Soviet Union and started receiving massive military equipment and financial assistance from the USSR. This had an adverse effect on the Indo-US relationship. USA saw Pakistan as a counter-weight to pro-Soviet India and started giving the former military assistance. Basically it is the ‘my enemy’s enemy is my friend’ stuff, and Pakistan and India fell out with partition. Here is a list of events [http://www.axisglobe.com/article.asp?article=64](http://www.axisglobe.com/article.asp?article=64) And this one dates it back to 1954 [http://www.axisglobe.com/article.asp?article=52](http://www.axisglobe.com/article.asp?article=52) |America signed a military alliance with Pakistan in 1954 when Jawaharlal Nehru refused to cooperate with the USA. The Indian government was forced to expand contacts with China and the USSR.| That is why Pakistan got spooked last year (?) when the USA started getting friendly with India and offering nuclear plants. Pushing things, one could probably trace alliances right back to Partitian, India’s Congress party not being particularly USA acceptable, and Pakistan being a few miles away the USSR (Tajikstan) > **[Maps.com | Maps about Trending Topics](https://www.maps.com)** > > Maps.com is your guide to exploring our world through maps. Discover trending maps about topics like climate change, social issues, infrastructure, equity, public policy & more. One could even venture as far as suggesting that the Pakistani military were geared towards ‘The Great Game’ - fear of Russia. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iraq-should-the-troops-be-withdrawn-or-drastically-increased/399165.md?page=7)