"We have got two sanctuaries, Afghan sanctuaries in Pakistan that Pakistan military leaders provide information on NATO and U.S. operations inside Afghanistan.
They provide training, and they provide resources. I mean, that's outrageous. And if that isn't enough, there are two fertilizer factories ostensibly which actually produce ammonium nitrate, which is the basic ingredient in 85 percent of all of the IEDs that maim and kill our troops.
And, finally, there are bomb factories that we know where they are, have pictures of them in Balochistan and also in Sharman, Pakistan..." General (Ret.) Jack Keane
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Keane is a former Vice Chief of Staff of the US Army who in retirement has become a counselor to the neocon movement.
As he mentions in the Newshour interview cited here, he has been a contract adviser to various Afghanistan commanders and was a principal architect of the strategy of reinforcement in Iraq that is often called "the surge." Actual progress in Iraq was brought about by the Sunni "awakening" but Keane and Petraeus have been keen to take credit.
This man has lots of access to US classified information. In this interview he reveal a lot of it, taking upon himself the right to de-classify information because he wants to win an argument. This information is directly involved in current and future operatons.
Various former CIA men, NSA men, etc. have been persecuted for unauthorised disclosures. What about this guy? pl
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/world/july-dec12/pakistan_07-03.html
Col., didn't you get the memo that the law now applies only to the little people and those who cross the powers that be?
Posted by: ex-PFC Chuck | 04 July 2012 at 11:23 AM
Col. Lang:
I've been wondering for a while whether someone would raise that question about Keane. Thank you for doing it.
Just to be clear Keane is stating that Pakistan has established two different Afghan sanctuaries in Pakistan to gather/exchange/receive military information for Pakistan about NATO and the United States?
Regardless, why am I not surprised?
Posted by: alnval | 04 July 2012 at 12:13 PM
Not sure where to post this although it roughly fits as an "unauthorized release":
"In a parallel development, Army Radio reported Tuesday morning that in an
interview Monday with former Pensioners' Affairs Minister Rafi Eitan, who
was Mossad chief at the time of Pollard's arrest, Eitan dropped a bombshell.
In the interview, Eitan blithely announced that he had had 24 hours notice
before Pollard was arrested and promptly called then prime minister Peres
and updated him. When asked why officials didn't use the 24 hour window to
prevent the arrest, Eitan declined to respond.
The Army Radio interviewer attempted to persuade Eitan to repeat the same
comment on record Tuesday, but Eitan responded that, "a slip of the tongue
is not something one repeats a second time."
http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=57344
So, who IS the traitor who warned the Israelis that their spy was going to be arrested?
Posted by: lally | 04 July 2012 at 04:38 PM
Didnt this hypocracy become transparently evident when the White House ochestrated the self congratulatory leaks on the 'kill list' and on drones?
The bigger issue is that Washington cannot define the national interest in Afghanistan, define what success is, define what failure is, or offer any logical line of reasoning as to the method for getting from here to there - wherever 'there' is located. This is probably the first war in American history, and one of the few in world history, where the main protagonist doesn't know why it is fighting.
One might expect our corps of ace journalists to pop this question to the President and his minions. They seem more interested, though, in celebrating Hillary's reaching the century mark in the number of countries she's hpnored with her official presence and the number of pounds she's added gained in the process.
Posted by: mbrenner | 04 July 2012 at 06:21 PM
From my 26 years in the Foreign Service, 8 of which were in or about Viet Nam during our war there, I conclude you can't win such efforts without the active cooperation from the host government. We don't have it in Pakistan and I question whether we have it in Afghanistan. You can drone-bomb them but you can't make them allow you to run supplies in--you have to bribe them to do that. Bribery is only a short-term solution.
Posted by: John Bennett | 04 July 2012 at 09:36 PM
“Sanctuaries” again echoes in an America’s war; police actions to maintain the status quo. But, no Empire can afford endless religious wars on the other side of the world. What is strange is the Retired General getting his dander up at Pakistan. American troops will leave sooner or later (2014). It is in the lowlanders self interest to maintain influence and keep the mountain tribes fighting among themselves rather than uniting and plundering the civilization below.
Meanwhile the pillage of the Western Bourgeoisie continues unreported. Two Trillion Dollars lost in American home equity with no end in sight. The UK is in a double dip recession. Although there is money to be made from the forever wars; perhaps, the best interest of the Elite is served by bringing the troops closer to home.
Posted by: VietnamVet | 04 July 2012 at 10:55 PM
The two sources of Ammonium Nitrate has been public for several years. I don't know about the bomb production locations but I've previously read in open source material of at least one he refers to. I'm not convinced he declassified anything that wasn't already public.
Posted by: bth | 04 July 2012 at 11:21 PM
bth
You think the part about Pakistan briefing the Taliban on our operations is unclassified? pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 04 July 2012 at 11:26 PM
Good point. Your right.
Posted by: bth | 05 July 2012 at 01:05 AM
FYI Ammonium Nitrate is a fertilizer and it can also be used to make bombs. Just like any chemical factory that can make drugs or pesticides can also makes chemical weapons. Scientific knowledge is amoral and can be used for good or evil depending on who's employing it.
Posted by: HankP | 05 July 2012 at 03:26 AM
The two ammonium nitrate plants do account for most of the ANFO IEDs. US approached the owners about putting tracers in it, but for what purpose I don't know as we already know its origin. The problem is that it is used in fertilizer in both Pak and Afghanistan as well as most everywhere else. I seem to recall that a couple of years ago Afghanistan banned its import, but that doesn't seem to have made any difference. One wonders what roads and checkpoints the trucks carrying it are using to get in from Pakistan. A couple of semi-truck loads can make a lot of IEDs when they only require 5 gallons or so at a time.
Posted by: bth | 05 July 2012 at 09:00 AM
It depends how you define "protagonist" Prof. If you mean this nation, then no, we don't know why we are there. If you mean the Admin, then I disagree. They know why they are there...because they will not allow themselves to be in a position where they 'get out' of Afghanistan..and three days, or three weeks, or three months, or three years, later someone launches some attack that is alleged to have been hatched in Afghanistan. That's why we're there. No one got the balls to get out. That, and its a good place to make money. In many different ways too.
Posted by: jonst | 05 July 2012 at 10:12 AM
Does America employ anyone like the fictional George Smiley?
Posted by: Walrus | 05 July 2012 at 05:50 PM
Pakistan requires the Taliban to exist as a counter to Indian influence.
Posted by: Walrus | 05 July 2012 at 05:53 PM
Surely that'd be like classified daylight.
Hope all had as happy a 4th as possible.
Posted by: Charles I | 06 July 2012 at 10:14 AM
when I heard him (still in uniform) give one of his kick-ass speeches he impressed, but a bit too certain & a bit too sanctimonious.
Posted by: ked | 06 July 2012 at 05:21 PM