The Afghan Taliban's former second in command has been "singing like a male canary" since his capture last month, officials here told The Washington Examiner.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who was arrested by Pakistani security agencies in Karachi, has become "a vital asset in gathering information on the Taliban and other extremist groups operating in the region," one Pakistani counterintelligence official said.
And even if he isn't singing like a canary, saying he is could cause rats to scurry because they know if he is talking he'd talk about them. So just watching to see if anyone runs or disappears--or just starts calling around a lot to get reassurance that all is well--will tell us a lot even if Baradar isn't talking.
Sure, for many captured terrorists, the friends of that terrorist have to assume the captured guy will talk, and only hope the captured guy resists talking long enough for colleagues to go to ground. But can the Taliban under Baradar afford to scatter--and leave subordinates leaderless--when a high-ranking guy is swept up? Wouldn't these guys double the guards and watch the skies more closely but continue to operate until they know they've been fingered and located?
The enemy just can't know for sure whether news like this is true or not--which is why just the capture is useful even if he never talks at all.
