What Pakistan knew about Bin Laden

[Marley23]

@carnivorousplant

Perhaps it gave them a false sense of security when the USA discovered Bin Ladin’s whereabouts.

False sense of security? They were outraged by the incursion into their territory and the (apparently truthful) speculation that bin Laden could not have been hiding in Abbottabad without anybody knowing about it.

[carnivorousplant]

@Marley23

False sense of security? They were outraged by the incursion into their territory and the (apparently truthful) speculation that bin Laden could not have been hiding in Abbottabad without anybody knowing about it.

I mean they expected us to ask before we came to kill him, or even better, ask them to pick him up for us.
Perhaps I expressed myself badly.

[Marley23]

@carnivorousplant

I mean they expected us to ask before we came to kill him, or even better, ask them to pick him up for us.
Perhaps I expressed myself badly.

Yes, I see. I doubt they thought the U.S. had picked up on his trail and I guess they didn’t think the military would come to get him without notifying them- even though Obama said he would do exactly that if it became necessary.

[carnivorousplant]

@Marley23

Yes, I see. I doubt they thought the U.S. had picked up on his trail and I guess they didn’t think the military would come to get him without notifying them- even though Obama said he would do exactly that if it became necessary.

I can’t tell if you are agreeing or being sarcastic. :dubious:

[YogSothoth]

@Marley23

But they don’t actually do anything. They only control the Taliban/AQ to the extent its in their own best interests to do so.

Think of it like paying off the mob: either we pay them, or things get worse (and they can get really worse there). We wouldn’t do this locally, we wouldn’t do this in our own state or government, but because there’s no international enforcement option that can make Pakistan do something it doesn’t want to, the “paying off the mob” analogy works with countries.

Would we really rather keep our billions and have open war over there, Pakistan fomenting active revolution in Afghanistan, supplying weapons, attacking Kabul, bombing India? No, we pay them not to do that knowing they’ll do whatever they can do to keep trying to do that while still collecting our money

[bldysabba]

@YogSosoth

Think of it like paying off the mob: either we pay them, or things get worse (and they can get really worse there). We wouldn’t do this locally, we wouldn’t do this in our own state or government, but because there’s no international enforcement option that can make Pakistan do something it doesn’t want to, the “paying off the mob” analogy works with countries.

Would we really rather keep our billions and have open war over there, Pakistan fomenting active revolution in Afghanistan, supplying weapons, attacking Kabul, bombing India? No, we pay them not to do that knowing they’ll do whatever they can do to keep trying to do that while still collecting our money

Yeah, but as with the mob analogy, paying them off ]does make things worse, you only don’t realise it right away. It continues to enable the mob. So in the last 10 or so years, the aid that has gone to Pakistan has been largely military aid, in a period where they would otherwise have been under strict sanctions because of the nuclear tests, all to ‘help’ deal with a problem(Taliban) they created, supported and later ensured would not go away.

[Wesley_Clark]

It seems like 3 sources (two american, one pakistani) claim that the ISI had a guy devoted to overseeing OBL.

I don’t know the area, so I don’t know what exactly Pakistain gets out of supporting Islamists. The Islamist parties only win 10% of the vote in Pakistani elections. Plus they target Pakistani secularists and moderates.

I guess yeah I could believe it. I don’t understand why the US wouldn’t do anything about it.