Can you even believe that Pakistan's long policy of harboring and supporting jihadis who eventually took over Afghanistan as America fled has resulted in jihadis in Afghanistan attacking Pakistan?
The Taliban on [May 8th] rejected claims of Afghan involvement in recent attacks in Pakistan, calling it “irresponsible and far from the reality.”
Pakistan’s military said Tuesday a suicide bombing that killed five Chinese engineers and a Pakistani driver in March was planned in neighboring Afghanistan and that the bomber was an Afghan citizen.
My sympathy for Pakistan only has a floor below which it can't sink because jihadis can't be precisely aimed the way Pakistan thought.
Pakistan provided sanctuary for jihadis while America waged war in Afghanistan. We didn't like it, but we relied on lines of supply through Pakistan even as those supplies were used to fight the jihadis that had sanctuary in Pakistan.
Supporting the jihadis didn't result in the lasting gratitude that Pakistani rulers expected.
I warned that Pakistan would not enjoy their victory:
Without an easy outlet for jihadi urges in Pakistan across the border in Afghanistan, Pakistani Islamists may turn their attention fully against the Pakistani government. And the jihadi threat was there well before the Taliban won[.]
While America fought the Taliban, the Pakistani government could survive with American aid. No more.
Boy Assad made the same mistake thinking he could aim jihadis at his enemies:
Assad has discovered that you can't make a deal with the Devil and expect to be better off for it.
Jihadis were once Assad's ally against America in Iraq. That hasn't worked out in the end:
Syrian President Bashar Assad’s anti-U.S. strategy during the 2003-11 Iraq War has come back to bite him.Indeed. Five years ago, on the news of a car-bombing in Syria, I noted my suspicion that this could happen[.]
Mr. Assad allowed al Qaeda operatives to set up a “rat line” through his country and into northeastern Iraq. Hundreds of young terrorists, many recruited from North Africa, took airline flights into Damascus and joined networks ready to sneak them across the border.
Mr. Assad’s objective: to keep the U.S. occupation off balance by helping al Qaeda kill Americans.
But Mr. Assad’s move also enabled al Qaeda to set up a logistics foothold in Syria that now is being used against him.
If Pakistan's rulers thought the lesson of Assad doesn't apply to their support of Sunni Taliban because he is an Alawite (kind of Shia) and Pakistani rulers are fellow Sunni, they made a grave mistake. Jihadis hate everyone.
Does Pakistan think its objective of putting the Taliban in power will be worth the price Pakistan will pay?
Captain Obvious could answer that question.
NOTE: TDR Winter War of 2022 coverage continues here.
NOTE: I'm adding updates on the Last Hamas War in this post.