Ambush raises unsettling questions in Afghanistan

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/12/21/asia/21ambush.php

Published: December 21, 2008

KABUL, Afghanistan: It was one of the most humiliating attacks the Afghan security forces had ever suffered. On Nov. 27, Taliban insurgents ambushed a supply convoy in the northwest province of Badghis, killing nine Afghan soldiers and five police officers, wounding 27 men, capturing 20 others, destroying at least 19 vehicles and stealing five, Afghan officials said.

The Afghan authorities quickly learned that the man suspected of having orchestrated the attack, Maulavi Ghulam Dastagir, had only weeks before been in police custody on charges of aiding the Taliban.

Dastagir had been personally released by President Hamid Karzai after assurances from a delegation of tribal elders that he would live a peaceful life, officials said this month.

The ambush, and the presidential pardon that allowed the insurgent to go free, have become the subject of a governmental inquest and the source of profound embarrassment for the Afghan government.

Pakistan is supporting the Taliban in the fight against U.S. soldiers.

$5.4 Billion dollars in aid goes missing in Pakistan.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/27/pakistan.usa