NEW YORK, Aug 6: Noting that the Afghan against the Taliban war is not going well the New York Times has squarely blamed Pakistan’s military government for its failure . “Pakistan’s passive enabling of the Taliban, however, is too important and dangerous for Washington to overlook,” The New York Times said in an editorial on Friday.

“The current Taliban offensive is killing American soldiers — at least 38 have died in action so far this year, as well as hundreds of Afghans. It also endangers next month’s parliamentary elections,” the newspaper said.

The Times also criticized President Gen Pervez Musharraf for the “frustratingly selective” help that he was giving to American forces in tracking down Al Qaeda leaders.

“He (Musharraf) has been an intermittent collaborator in the fight against international terrorism rather than a fully committed ally,” the editorial said. “Washington has been understandably reluctant to push him for more consistency, not wanting to risk losing the help he does offer”.

“Gen Musharraf says that he has sent tens of thousands of troops to police border areas. Yet well-supplied Taliban fighters keep showing up to battle American troops in Afghanistan. He insists that the training camps are still shut down and that he is committed to thwarting the Taliban, but says he must proceed cautiously so he doesn’t inflame militant groups in Pakistan. That would be more persuasive had the general not spent close to six years marginalizing mainstream parties and cutting deals with Islamic extremists to reinforce his rule”, the paper said.