The Toll - 10/18/09 - Pakistani Group In Iran Attack

The Pakistani terrorist group known as Jundallah, or "The Army of God,” claimed responsibility for an attack within Iran that claimed 42 lives on Sunday. The dead included five senior commanders of the Revolutionary Guard. Pakistan’s envoy to Tehran was subsequently summoned to the Iranian Foreign Ministry and told Pakistan must control the terrorist groups operating within its borders.

Jundallah had previously claimed it was responsible for another attack in Iran in May which resulted in 21 deaths and nearly 200 injuries.

Not surprisingly, Iran also focused its blame for the attack on the “world arrogance,” one of its favorite nicknames for the United States, for provoking its agents to carry out the attack.

To say that Pakistan has a full plate now in dealing with its various insurgencies would be an understatement. For months, it has been under great pressure from the government of India to control the terrorist group responsible for last year’s attack in Mumbai that killed 188 people. At the same time, the United States has been attempting to get Pakistan to control the Taliban militants that use safe havens there to launch attacks into Afghanistan.

On Saturday, the Pakistani army initiated a major assault on one of those safe havens, South Waziristan province, and fierce fighting has been reported there. That area is particularly challenging from a physical standpoint. The terrain is quite rough and, for that reason, it has long thought to be a possible hideout for Osama bin Laden.

On two prior occasions, in 2003 and 2004, Pakistan’s attacks on the Waziristan militants ended in failure, but it is believed that the country’s leaders have committed more troops this time around.

A complicating factor within Pakistan is the close relationship between the insurgents and some elements of the government, especially the intelligence services. Several U.S. officials presented evidence of these links to the Pakistani leadership last fall. Furthermore, the head of Afghanistan’s intelligence operations was quoted on Frontline, Saturday night, as saying that these close relationships are a pervasive problem that he thought would prevail over any attempt to defeat the various militant organizations. Even Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad mentioned the problem when referring to Sunday’s terrorist attack.

The likely concern that all share would be the possibility of a coup in Pakistan by elements of the military and intelligence services that are sympathetic to the insurgents. The various militant organizations include, of course, the central operations for America’s greatest threat, al Qaeda, its recruiting programs and its training facilities.

As if all of this doesn’t sufficiently complicate the war in Afghanistan, the ambassador from that country announced in Washington on Thursday that the disputed presidential election will probably be decided by a runoff contest.

This would add more uncertainty to President Obama’s deliberations as to the future conduct of the war. At the present time, the recommendations of the president’s advisors seem to be split fairly evenly. The military leader on the ground, General McChrystal, has requested 40,000 additional troops. Defense Secretary Gates and Secretary of State Clinton seem to be backing his recommendation although, from the comments Gates has made, he is a little harder to read. On the other hand, Vice President Biden, White House Chief of Staff Emanuel and National Security Advisor Jones appear to be opposed to any troop increase.

Last week, the Department of Defense released the obituaries of four military personnel killed in Afghanistan, ranging in age from 20 to 28. Three of the fallen heroes were killed by “homemade bombs,” the Pentagon’s new name, apparently, for what used to be called improvised explosive devices. In addition, a roadside bomb killed four American soldiers on Friday.

According to the website icasualties.org, total U.S. deaths now stand at 881 in Afghanistan and 4,349 in Iraq.