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"Pakistan"by Steven Emerson
ERIC SHAWN: Pakistan's ambassador in the United States says that the Taliban rules the region once the sun goes down. He's telling Fox News that the Taliban and al-Qaeda in his words, "own the night there," and that the war in Iraq fueled terrorist activities. Steve Emerson is the author of American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us. Steve, an expert on terrorism, joins us now. Steve, good to see you. STEVEN EMERSON: Good morning. SHAWN: Six years in a war, 402 American lives in Afghanistan. Taliban resurgent, have we done enough or is it Pakistan's fault? EMERSON: That's a good question. You know, there's been a cat fight between Pakistan and Afghanistan about who is responsible here. There's no doubt that the Taliban have been resurgence in southern Afghanistan . And there ' s also no doubt that the Afghanistan government has been blaming Pakistan for allowing the Taliban to basically come across the border and for the I.S.I., The Pakistan's intelligence services to really do nothing about the whole deployment of the Taliban across the border. So I would say that the Pakistan government is really largely to blame for much more of the problem than the Afghani government is. SHAWN: What does that mean for us? We had the recent terror bust, the J.F.K. Terror bust in the United States. Of course, 9/11 formulated and hashed and carried out from Afghanistan because of Osama bin Laden. And he ' s not been caught. EMERSON: Well, that' s a good point. I mean, here is the question: will Afghanistan suddenly become a center of gravity for activities and for plots to be the center of gravity for plots to be coordinated and dispatched from against the united states either in Europe or in the united states again, as they were on 9/11 and prior to 9/11? Could it happen again also in Iraq should the United States leave? That' s the big fear. And if it happens in Afghanistan , will then the entire deployment there be annulled. I don' t think that's going to be in the cards at this rate. The United States is still on the offense and I think Pakistani government officials' charge is a little bit exaggerated right now. I think he' s really trying to make a dig at the Afghani government, because he doesn't -- he wants to deflect the criticism against the Pakistani government for doing too little and for making the actual de facto agreement with the Taliban in Waziristan . SHAWN: Finally, what should we look out for here in the United States on these types of plots that could come from there? EMERSON: Look, I think the F.B.I. Has done a phenomenal job, together with the NYPD on the J.F.K. Plot. The Fort Dix plot was a textbook case of F.B.I. Infiltration. We have to look out for something much larger, that's the political recruitment, the jihadist material, incitement going on at the mosque, the political organizations. Just last week, a political jihadist testified at a U.S. Congressional hearing, which I thought was outrageous. I think congress is not doing enough. I would blame congress more than I would blame the administration now. SHAWN: All right. We 'll take a look at that issue and see how we can certainly prevent another attack here. Steve Emerson, good to see you. Thank you for joining us. Related ItemsComment on this item |
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