PAKISTAN’S double game of fighting alongside the US but protecting the Al-Qaeda and Taliban in Afghanistan was an open secret. At one stage the Bush administration had expressed concerns that the Pakistani army, particularly its Directorate and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI),

were having a very active, strategic relation with the Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists and also financing their activities. Now, Pakistan’s double game stands fully exposed through US classified military intelligence documents, released by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks.  
WikiLeaks on Sunday made public 92,000 classified reports and cables from the US military, intelligence and civilian administration in Afghanistan, dating from 2004 to 2009, one of them stating that the ISI was linked to a plot to assassinate the Afghan President, Mr Hamid Karzai and the 2008 bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul. The ISI had offered $15,000-30,000 to Taliban for killing Indian construction workers in Afghanistan. The Indian government on a number of occasions had expressed concern over the involvement of the ISI to the US establishment, but unfortunately every time it brushed it aside to the advantage of Pakistan. It was not without significance that the ISI created a false dichotomy of good Taliban and bad Taliban, primarily to serve its ulterior motives.
After the exposé done by leading western newspapers based on WikiLeaks intelligence leaks, the Pentagon has launched a witch-hunt to identify ‘insiders’ who could have leaked the sensitive documents. They have arrested a 22-year-old officer; there is a risk to the life of WikiLeaks founder, the Australian, Mr Julian Assange. The Pentagon has sent a message to Mr Assange to meet outside the US. The panic in the US establishment is natural. The intelligence logs reveal the realities of the US engagement in many parts of the troubled or diplomatic world.
There are foolish attempts by US and Pakistani officials to make light of the intelligence logs. The Pakistani ambassador to the US, Mr Husain Haqqani says, “The documents do not reflect the current on-ground realities.” Senator Ike Skelton, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said: “These leaked reports pre-date our new strategy in Afghanistan and should not be used as a measure of success or a determining factor in our continued mission there.” But his explanation supports the view that Pakistan was playing a double game–posing as a US ally and helping the enemy–at least during the years the documents cover. That the US concerns about Pakistan’s double game persist was evident from the US Secretary of State, Ms Hillary Clinton’s comment during her recent Pakistan trip that certain elements know where Osama and Omar are hiding. 
The revelations go to rip the veil Pakistani political leadership, army and ISI have hid behind in providing active assistance to the very forces that they are fighting alongside the US shoulder to shoulder. The US has serious compulsions and needs Pakistan’s help to transport supplies to NATO troops inside Afghanistan. But there is a limit to which the US can turn a blind eye to the Pakistani complicity in fuelling insurgency and terrorism inside Afghanistan. However, the US has to deal with the Pakistani complicity with discretion, because the NATO forces have to depend a lot on the intelligence and cooperation of the Pakistani troops. Only the discretion has to be used with greater frequency and more effectively than done so far. Pakistani hawks would not give up unless driven to the wall.