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C.I.A. and I.S.I Work Together, Warily

"Inside a secret detention center in an industrial pocket of the Pakistani capital called I/9, teams of Pakistani and American spies have kept a watchful eye on a senior Taliban leader captured last month. With the other eye, they watch each other." NYTimes.com.

Baradar Capture: Was There a Rift with Mullah Omar? - TIME

"[W]hile U.S.-Pakistan relations are better now, they are still fraught. As U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke, a veteran of the Balkans and other bruising diplomatic acts, remarked wearily on Feb. 18, during his seventh swing through Islamabad, 'This is the most complicated relation with an ally that I've ever experienced. I don't want to mislead you; it's still fragile.'"TIME

The New Rules of War - By John Arquilla

"Every day, the U.S. military spends $1.75 billion, much of it on big ships, big guns, and big battalions that are not only not needed to win the wars of the present, but are sure to be the wrong approach to waging the wars of the future." Foreign Policy Magazine.

Jailed Taliban Leader Still a Pakistani Asset?

"Contrary to initial U.S. suggestions that it signals reduced Pakistani support for the Taliban, the detention of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the operational leader of the Afghan Taliban, represents a shift by Pakistan to more open support for the Taliban in preparation for a peace settlement and U.S. withdrawal." Gareth Porter via Antiwar.com

Pakistan Seen as a Solid Partner

"In fairness to the Pakistanis, and in the interest of not deluding ourselves into believing that all will be easy from this point onward, several of their common concerns should be registered. For starters, they still doubt our real commitment to the region, having heard President Obama’s December 1 speech in which he promised the beginning of a U.S. drawdown in Afghanistan by July 2011, and having watched us leave the region behind on several previous occasions. They also tell us not to feel too charitable about the aid packages we offer them, estimating that in their eyes the U.S.-led Afghan campaign has cost them more than it has helped them, in financial and other terms." Michael O'Hanlon writing for the National Interest online.

BBC News - Pakistan's push for new role in Afghanistan

"Reports are now emerging that Mullah Baradar may have been detained earlier than the dates cited in the original story in the New York Times.

"It's also still not clear how much involvement US intelligence had in the raid and how much access they have to this valuable source, who has an enormous store of knowledge about the movement, including their contacts with the ISI." BBC report by Lyse Doucet.

Afghan Offensive Is New War Model

"Finally, there is only so much the Americans and their NATO partners can do. The rest is up to the Afghans themselves. Despite years of work, the Afghan Army cannot sustain itself in the field, the police are loathed in nearly every place they work, and the government of Mr. Karzai has only a few serious worldwide rivals in corruption and graft." NYT News Analysis.

'A new understanding for the U.S. and Pakistan?'

"The language and vocabulary emanating from Washington and London toward Islamabad has changed in recent months, a prerequisite for creating greater trust among the coalition partners, according to Pakistani generals. Let us see what wonders the changed vocabulary can work in the coming months." Imtiaz Gul for the AfPak Channel.

Pakistan Seeking Role in Afghan Talks With U.S.?

"Pakistan’s army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, made clear Pakistan’s willingness to mediate at a meeting late last month at NATO headquarters with top American military officials, a senior American military official familiar with the meeting said." NYTimes.com.

DAWN.COM | Front Page | Kayani spells out threat posed by Indian doctrine

DAWN.COM | Front Page | Kayani spells out threat posed by Indian doctrine: "Both India and Pakistan appear to have firmly lapsed into the old pattern of highlighting the differences between them and the threats they face from each other, while nominally leaving the door open to an improvement in relations if one side addresses the other’s concerns."