Wikileaks has just released thousands of pages of classified U.S. and ISAF  intelligence documents outlining the fundamental issues of the Afghan campaign; the incompetence, duplicity and corruption of the Afghan government and the pervasive involvement of Pakistan’s ISI in supporting, tasking, and directing Taliban activities within Afghanistan. This documentation represents a massive security breach, but confirms numerous data points developed by other sources in recent weeks.

These documents combined with the recent report by the London School of Economics Crisis States Research Centre entitled The Sun in the Sky: The Relationship between Pakistan’s ISI and Afghan Insurgents provide an incredibly detailed picture of the support and logistics provided by Pakistan’s Inter Services Agency, their equivalent of the CIA, to the Afghan Taliban. It rips away any pretense that Pakistan is an ally in the Afghan war.

Pakistan has two foreign policy platforms that are inimical to Western interests. The first regards India. They find India and its predominant Hindu faith abhorrent. The second is Afghanistan, or a bit more precisely, the concept of Pashtunistan.  After partition, the state of Pakistan was split into East (Bengal) and West Pakistan, 1,000 miles apart with India in the middle. East Pakistan had little in common with the West, economically, linguistically, or culturally, and in fact had better relations with India. The only common thread was a shared Islamic heritage. In 1970, the Pakistani Army killed between 300,000 and 3 Million Bengalis in what was described as an extended massacre. The root cause was raw power. Bengal revolted and after 9 months won its independence. Pakistan’s already shaky self image took a major blow.

The major flash point since then has been Kashmir, where the Indian and Pakistani Armies regularly trade artillery salvos and Islamic violence is common. The ISI are the primary sponsors of the Harkat – ul – Mujahadeen and other terrorist groups focusing on Kashmir. They use these fighters as proxies in a continuing low-level war which includes the 2008 Mumbai terrorist assault in which 178 people were killed. Just 10 days ago, and number of pro-Islamic protesters were killed.

In the west of Pakistan, the central government  also contends with the tribal areas. The Durand Line was established by the British Raj in 1893 as an artificial border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, dividing the Pashtun people in the south between both countries. The Pashtun have always been independent and are the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan. In Pakistan, the Pashtun are the largest ethnic group along the Northwest frontier,and are a buffer against Afghanistan. Maintaining that buffer and countering both a strong Afghan government and Indian influence in that country drives Pakistani policy. The ISI is acting in the interests of the elected government, according to the LSE report, and in doing so is the primary facilitator for both the Taliban and the Haqqani Network.

The LSE report is the result of hundreds of interviews of Taliban commanders, former members of the Taliban government, Afghan elders, foreign diplomats, and current Afghan government officials. Because the ISI is a secret organization, there is little verifiable data from that source. However, now 91,000 individual reports by US and allied line units, individual sources, “information centers”, outside contractors operating inside of Pakistan, and other sources are painting a much more detailed picture of direct Pakistani involvement.

The Quetta Shura, the high council of the Afghan Taliban, meet 10-12 times per year somewhere in or around the city of Quetta in Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier. One LSE interview subject stated that between three and seven ISI officials attend each meeting, and that the ISI is responsible for the meeting logistics and location. The ISI is reported to exploit tribal and political fissures within the Taliban to its benefit, which is consistent with the national policy objectives of Pakistan. The ISI holds power through its financial support, access to weapons and materiel, and sanctuary for Taliban officials. Most of the weaponry, including and especially explosives for IED’s used against Western forces in Afghanistan, are delivered to the Taliban by the ISI. Pakistani agents work hand in hand with the military to facilitate delivery of weapons and ammunition to Afghan Taliban at the border. This is done in order to ensure that those weapons are not turned on the Pakistani military in that country’s current insurgency.

Some of the reports indicate ISI mission planning, including some of the most heinous car bombings and the suicide bombing that damaged the main highway bridge into Kandahar several months ago. ISI agents and either active duty or former Pakistani military are also said to plan and lead specific missions within Afghanistan.

The ISI also enforces its authority through selective detention of senior Taliban leaders according to the report. The arrests of 7 Taliban leaders in February were intended as a warning that the ISI will have a major role, if not primacy, in any negotiations over Afghanistan. The report also states that a large number of Taliban are fighting under duress from the ISI. It states that the ISI is directly involved in the most controversial attacks, including the assassinations of tribal elders and attacks on schools, bridges and other key targets.To enforce discipline, it is said the ISI will assassinate those who do not cooperate.

Several interviews suggested that the Taliban are highly resentful of the ISI, one leader saying that the only people hated more than the Americans were the ISI. One political leader said that “everything is controlled by the ISI. Without the agreement of the ISI, the insurgency would be impossible”. A joint U.S., NATO and Afghan report in 2006 concluded that the ISI not only provided vital sanctuary for the Taliban and Haqqani Network, but also paid them and pressured them to fight. A Taliban commander in Southern Afghanistan said that they are paid a bounty of $4,000 – $5,000 per ISAF soldier killed. He said many Afghans believe the United States is funding the insurgency with their support of Pakistan.

Between 2002 – 2010, Pakistan has received $18 Billion in aid from the United States government. In February, President Obama requested another $3 Billion. Hillary Clinton just promised another $7.5 Billion 10 days ago, and to facilitate the import of mangoes from Pakistan to help bolster America’s image there.

At the same time, most of the material for the allies prosecution of the war from gasoline to ammunition to armored vehicles passes through Karachi on its way to Afghanistan. Much of this is subject to hijacking and attacks within Pakistan. Just a few weeks ago, 50+ tractor trailers carrying war materiel were destroyed near Islamabad, where they were thought to be safer than nearer the border.

As one of the most corrupt countries in the world, it seems the Pakistani government and it’s component individuals are making money coming and going while supporting jihad as best they can. There is a massive Saudi  Wahabbist influence to complement Pakistani Deobandism through the madrassas and direct funding of the Taliban, estimated to be close to $900 million since 2001. The ISI know exactly where Mullah Omar, Sirajuddin Haqqani, and most likely, Osama Bin Laden are at any given time. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the 9/11 mastermind was arrested only after strong pressure was exerted by the United States. Not much happens in Pakistan that the ISI doesn’t know about or that they are not directly involved in.

Afghanistan produces 90% of the world’s heroin base. Most of that moves through Pakistan. In the great jihad, exporting narcotics is simply war by other means.

Pakistan is one of the bases of global jihad. At least most Afghans want peace. They know the price of war. It is for our leaders to determine policy, but it has become ever more clear that Pakistan is a part of the problem, not the solution.