The war in Afghanistan, says Gall, has to be seen in the context of Pakistan’s search for security in the face of its vastly more powerful antagonist, India. Pakistan’s Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has been playing a double game for years, posing as an ally of Western intelligence agencies
while providing succour to the Taliban. The aim: a friendly client state on Pakistan’s western border, free of Indian influence.

“The Taliban wouldn’t have lasted 10 minutes without Pakistan,”