Very well written. It is not just Gen. Abbas who has this problem of over or under-stating facts; it is, unfortunately, the entire Pakistani government mechanism that is based on delusional ideas. The remarkable quality of all this exercise is that they are always overwhelmingly confident that all and sundry will believe their 'creativity'!

Pakistan's presentation of their 'achievements' is just like witnessing or listening to a crazy commercial of events that never happened! The optimism may sound music to the ears of those concerned with the problem of terrorism. However, deep down the reality is far detached from the superfluous presentations that provide juicy 'facts' as to how Islamabad is 'strategically' dealing with the Taliban menace.

Pakistan is exploiting the trust imposed upon it by the civilized Western democracies. Having experienced the Pakistani political and establishment gimmickry for years, I can whole-heartedly sympathize with those assigned to manage the AfPak policy. It is very hard to get the real truth out of these lame-minded Pakistanis. The fact that they've been hiding/patronizing/encouraging militants and militancy for decades is a clear proof that what they say is not exactly what they mean or do.

In the post 9/11 world, Pakistan has been provided with millions of dollars in aid and assistance. We don't know much where exactly or on what this money was spent; there hasn't been much accountability in place; there are no stringent checks and balances imposed. Historically, the Pakistanis are experts in seeking help but never standing by their promises.

Also, we do not know how the weaponry provided to fight the Taliban is utilized. Is it being channelized to where it supposed to be? Or, is it falling into the wrong hands? Remember Ojhri Camp, 1988?

The Pakistanis claim that their nuclear plan is safe and there is no threat from the fundamentalists. We've been given innumerable assurances. Are these assurances believable? After what happened a few days ago, i.e., the attack on GHQ, one wonders if the nukes are really well-protected.

The story is never-ending. Pakistan is a failed state and is trying its best to keep its head above the water. Unfortunately, the leadership is too corrupt and horribly obnoxious.

Trust is sacred, we are all aware of that. The West needs to tread slowly and stop considering Pakistan as the most allied ally in the war on terrorism. Trusting Islamabad is not the wisest of activities to indulge in. Let Gen. Abbas continue with his fairytales. However, do understand that the 'credit worthiness' of his statements will always remain doubtful.

So u think the pakistani bobs are prevaricators he.. he.. read the resignation letter http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/26/AR2009102603394.html?nav=hcmodule

written by a former marine & a us civil servant posted in afghanistan in the washington post.

Surely if any people are being delusional & mistaken its the americans themselves who instead of spending on their own people are wasting their resources & themselves in Afghanistan.

As far as the Paksitani general's various stances on incidents mentioned in this patronising & shallow piece, one can only say ok so hes spiniing hard and u can see through it , But remember this" it was the pakistan army and the ISI which got rid of the RUssian bear in the eighties and it is the only force which can contain the taliban."

The americans have to go back home from AF & PAK thanku , the sooner they realise this the sooner the region can start to normalise and the economy recover back in the usa.

And dont for a second think that pakistanis are lame enough not to figure out the designs being pursued by various actors and puppetts in the region, from day one we know what u guys want and u r not getting it.

Come on FP you could have come up with something better ... say something solid and substantive, and perhaps worth writing about? Attention grabbing headlines, based on comparing the uncomparable, is the stuff of tabloid journalism. Incidently, where is Baghdad Bob now? The Pakistan army has done the job in the Malakand division and is almost there in South Waziristan too. If I can recall, these were the militants, on the run now, who had Islamabad in their eyes from 60 miles away (at least in the eyes of people like Kenner). Should not this be the story?

Dr I N Khan

Claim: pakistan claims that India is creating troubles in Balochistan using her consulates in Kandahar and Zahidan.
Reality: All so-called fighter are being trained by Indians and US is keeping a blind eye on Indian activity in Afghanistan then why should Pakistan bother about Talibans in Pakistan.

And Mr. David Kenner seems to be Foreign Policy's Baghdad Bob - putting his spin on everything relating to Pakistan and Pakistani claims with regards to its war against Taliban.

The 'Predator' drones shown in the Google Earth picture from Shamsi airbase that Mr David discusses in Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas's 'Claim 4' are clearly unarmed - which is supported by the fact that only a handful of Predators can be armed. The main Un-Manned strike weapon of both the American and British forces is the MQ-9 Reaper which is based in Afghanistan. David Kenner needs to do something more constructive than wasting our time with his hair-splitting argument.

How about a piece on Bush and his gang of war-thugs beating war-drums on Iraq regarding WMDs instead? Lets see a piece on Washington's Baghdad Bob, Mr Powell.

'Claim 5', David Kenner conveniently forgets that the Taliban took control of Swat only 'after' the Pakistani government had signed a peace-deal with Sufi Muhammad [based on Sufi's word that he will reign in Taliban factions]. Prior to the agreement, Athar Abbas was 100% correct in stating, that the Taliban did not have 'control' of Swat - all they did was harass citizens and local police force. The army stayed in its barracks because of Gen. Kayani's orientation of putting military operations under orders from Pakistan's civilian PPP government. The Pakistan Army cannot be faulted, nor accused of not having the 'will' or 'capability' to take on Taliban in Swat at the time since it was the civilian government that was not ready to authorize a military operation against Taliban and tag-along militants.

I could go on & on and Mr Kenner would probably end up losing his job. 'Experts' and 'analysts' like him come dime-a-dozen today; the trend started during the Cold War, where similar 'experts' made careers out of predicting that the Soviet Union would stand tall for a 1000yrs and that the West better be prepared for a drawn out conflict that would never end. They were ALL proved wrong when the Soviet state collapsed.

Bottomline: Spare us this trash piece.

Ever since Tora Bora, Pakistan has come under a lot of flak to hide the USA's failure to capture Osama Bin Laden. Even today after entering its ninth year in Afghanistan,,the USA acts as if what they say is the ultimate truth and nearly God's word. Wrong. Its a mindset that needs changing.

Consider we in Pakistan are getting our cities attacked by suicide bombers and car bombs nearly everyday. The latest car bomb in Peshawar took over 110 lives and around 225 wounded. Does it make sense for us to be friends with the Al-Qaeda or the Taliban under these conditions or presume we have rogue elements in the ISI? It is convenient for the USA to believe this and create a Quetta Shura and whatever else because they need excuses to hide their failures in Afghanistan where they control barely 30% of the territory.

If you think Major General Athar Abbas is talking hogwash, don't listen to him and follow your own version of the truth. But before you do that, you need to answer two questions. When are you leaving Afghanistan? and finally, when is the USA and Pakistan parting ways/ We have had enough of you. and a parting of ways is long overdue. Go away and leave us alone.

Pakistan Army is in Reality the Army of Occupation of Pakistan. This is a totally corrupt Organized Crime Organisation. In the first 10 years an Officer is trained how to be submissive to the Boss of his Mafia (the Badmash-Army occupying Pakistan). After that promotion is on merit: the MORE DISLOYAL to the Republic, the higher the chances of promotion to senior ranks. The second virtue for a officers of the Badmash Army is blind loyalty to the capo de tutti capi, the Criminal in Chief, who heads the Army.
This army which has repeatedly molested, raped, the Republic has about 10 million equally corrupt hangers-on. The Army and its hangers-on is the biggest terrorist organization in Pakistan and is raping the 160 million real Pakistanis.
Paki Army (the Badmashes) has never won a war against an external enemy; it has killed thousands of its own citizens, corrupted every civil and national industrial organization in the country. They are professional liars, who can smell a dollar from 1000 miles, and any one of them will sell his soul, his honour, his country for that green-back. They are not delusional, they play the clown to distract you. They are the MOST DEVELOPED MAFIA in the world.
Every officer of the Paki Army is a Bagdad Bob.

First of all, I don’t understand that what’s the purpose of writing such piece? It’s clearly evident that writer may have some personal grudge on Athar Abbas or something suspicious behind his motives. I smell a rat here.

Such write-ups are deteriorating for the credibility of a prestigious organization like Foreign Policy. It’s totally useless research to malign and slander a person’s credibility. Practically, it’s not possible to twist the facts and ground realties to a level as David Kenner is trying to prove. I guess it’s an incorrect premise to start a research because today’s media is very powerful and no one can escape due to availability of multiple sources to verify authenticity of a fact. Recent international media visit of South Waziristan is symbolic to the strong hold of Pakistan Army in its own territory. Isn’t it poor chap?

Journalistic ethics are not the entity of a single state or country, it’s a global phenomenon. I think poor Kenner missed the chapter of journalistic or research ethics during his studies. Never mind. I would say for me Kenner has become “Foreign Policy’s Bob!”

I got stuck in a question that what is difference between a spokesperson and a journalist. In order to find out the difference I went to the wikipedia and first read the responsibilities of spokesperson which are, “it is the job of a spokesperson to faithfully represent and advocate for the organization's positions”. According to this Gen Athar Abbas being a Pak military spokesperson is fulfilling his responsibilities with full commitment. Then I study about journalist and ethics in journalism from wikipedia. According to wikipedia “a journalist gathers and disseminates information about current events, people, trends, and issues”, and the ethics of journalism includes the principles of truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity, impartiality, fairness and public accountability as these apply to the acquisition of newsworthy information and its subsequent dissemination to the public”. But David Kenner’s article “Pakistan Baghdad’s bob” published on 27 Oct, 09 shows the violation of these ethics of journalism (i-e objectivity, truthfulness and impartiality). In that article Kenner called Gen Athar Abbas “Baghdad Bob” and then he continued his biased opinion in his blog U.S. has "modest" expectations for Pakistani offensive”, pub on 28 Oct, 09 in which he stated that “I recently wrote a not altogether positive article about Pakistan's chief military spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, for spinning everything in Pakistan from ISI sponsorship of the Taliban to U.S. drone strikes in the country. This is not journalism; in fact it is a biased opinion about a person. It seems that he has no problem with the General’s spinning of the news but some other motives which time will reveal.

Holy shit, we've found a whole TROVE of Baghdad Bobs!

"Pakistan has a good grip on its territory!"
"Pakistan has the best scientists in the world!"
"No, there is no civil war going on in regions of Pakistan!"
"Pakistan testing eight nuclear warheads is a slap in the face to the US!" (ok, that one's probably true)

David, you should do an article on the commentators here.