The Afghan Taliban were quick to claim credit for the weekend bombing against a US Combat Outpost in Wardak Province, an attack which killed five Afghans, and wounded 108 people, including 77 US soldiers. The Pentagon, however, is hoping to blame someone else.

The Pentagon is targeting the Haqqani Network, a Taliban ally, for the strike, adding that blowing up a US base with a truckload of explosives “is totally unacceptable behavior.”

It is a case of never letting a crisis get by unexploited. Having the Afghan Taliban directly at fault does the Pentagon no particular good, while blaming the Haqqanis allows them to hype the network’s menace in defending repeated CIA drone strikes against North Waziristan, as well as pushing the Pakistani government to invade the region.

Officials declined to offer any evidence that the Haqqanis were to blame for this particular attack, insisting only that there was a “strong likelihood” they’d be involved in something this big.

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