Pakistan intelligence rift shows deepening US frustration: analysts

[Interceptor]

Bush voices concern over ISI role

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Pakistan denies as CIA accuses agency of backing militants

By Sami Abraham

WASHINGTON: US President George W Bush expressed his concern and some annoyance with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani over the role of the ISI in Pakistan.

Defence Minister, Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, who was also present at the meeting, told The News. He said President Bush expressed concern that certain elements in the ISI were leaking information to the terrorists before they could be hit by the US or Pakistani forces. This is a cause of concern for the US side, he added.

Talking exclusively to this correspondent, Ahmed Mukhtar said the meeting otherwise was held in good atmosphere, and the US administration looked committed to support the civilian set-up.

“President Bush also asked who is controlling the ISI,” the minister said, indicating that Bush was probably aware of the fiasco created by the failed attempt by the Ministry of Interior to take control of the ISI through a notification shortly before PM Gilani arrived in Washington.

Another source said President Bush agreed with the Pakistani point of view that all parties in the Afghan conflict, the Nato forces, Pakistan and Afghanistan should take equal responsibility of meeting the terrorist threats.

“The US president agreed that specific tasks must be identified for each party to meet and then the performance of each party should be assessed. Accusations against each other should not be levelled publicly,” the source quoted President Bush as saying.

AP/AFP add: Meanwhile, the CIA has confronted senior Pakistani officials with evidence showing that members of the country’s spy service have deepened their ties with some militant groups responsible for a surge of violence in Afghanistan, possibly including the suicide bombing this month of the Indian Embassy in Kabul, The New York Times reported.

A top CIA official travelled to Islamabad this month with new information about ties between Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency and militants operating in Pakistan’s tribal areas, the newspaper said on its Web site late Tuesday. Its sources were American military and intelligence officials it did not identify.

On the other hand, Pakistan’s military rejected the “malicious” report that a top CIA official visiting this month confronted Islamabad over ties between the ISI and militants. “We reject this report. This is unfounded, baseless and malicious,” chief Pakistani military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said.

“I would like to emphasise here that ISI is a premier intelligence agency which has caught or apprehended maximum al-Qaeda operatives including those who were linked with criminals and responsible for attacking the US mainland on September 11, 2001,” Abbas said.

The Times said the CIA assessment pointed to links between the ISI and the militant network led by Jalaluddin Haqqani, which American officials believe maintains close ties to senior figures of al-Qaeda in Pakistan’s tribal areas. The CIA has depended heavily on the ISI for information about militants in Pakistan.

The visit to Pakistan by the CIA official, Stephen R Kappes, the agency’s deputy director, was described by several American military and intelligence officials in interviews in recent days, the Times said. Some of those who were interviewed said they welcomed the decision by the CIA to take a harder line towards the ISI’s dealings with militant groups.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani is in Washington meeting with Bush administration officials. In an interview broadcast Tuesday on PBS television show “The News Hour With JimLehrer,” Gilani said that to say that some in the ISI are “sympathetic to the militants, this is not believable. ... We will not allow that.”

CIA spokeswoman Marie Harf refused to comment on the Times report late Tuesday. The newspaper said it was unclear whether CIA officials have concluded that contacts between the ISI and militant groups are blessed at the highest levels of Pakistan’s spy service and military or are carried out by rogue elements of Pakistan’s security apparatus.

Kappes made his secret visit to Pakistan on July 12, joining Adm Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, for meetings with senior Pakistani civilian and military leaders, the Times said.

Muhammad Saleh Zaafir from Washington adds: Interior Advisor to Prime Minister, Rehman Malik, has emphatically refuted the allegations levelled by The New York Times that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) had connections with the terrorists.

Talking to the News Wednesday, Rehman said the Indian propaganda is an effort to malign Pakistan’s supreme agency, the ISI, which has played a commendable role in curbing terrorism in all its manifestations.

The interior advisor said the Pakistan government has informed the American authorities about India’s clandestine contact with the terrorists, including Baitullah Mehsud, and their hideouts in the tribal areas of Pakistan.

Rehman advised the Indian government to refrain from fanning terrorist activities in the areas of sensitive nature. He said India should not mislead the world and withdraw its support to the terrorists in the region.


Bush voices concern over ISI role

 

[PakWatan]

WASHINGTON (AFP) — A reported rift between the US and Pakistani intelligence agencies reflects deepening US frustration over Islamabad's role in a worsening insurgency in Afghanistan, analysts said here.

Suspicions about Pakistani intentions have grown in recent weeks following a suicide bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul, a sophisticated insurgent attack on a US-manned combat outpost, and a sudden flare up fighting in Kashmir.

"The administration I think has finally come to the conclusion that it needs to have more transparence about what the ISI and the army are up to," said Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer, referring to the Pakistani military's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate.

"We need to know whose side the army and the ISI really are on," Riedel, who has long experience with Pakistani intelligence, told AFP.

The New York Times reported Wednesday that a senior CIA official confronted Pakistani officials this month with evidence of ties between the ISI and a militant network led by Maulavi Jalaluddin Haqqani.

Steve Kappes, the CIA's deputy director, joined Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in Islamabad July 12 for meetings with top military and civilian leaders, according to the Times.

A senior US official told the newspaper they delivered "a very pointed message saying, Look, we know there's a connection, not just with Haqqani but also with other bad guys and ISI, and we think you could do more and we want you to do more about it.'"

A Pakistani military spokesman called the report "unfounded, baseless and malicious." US officials would not comment on it.

The ISI has long been assumed to maintain ties to militant groups it created to fight the Soviets and the Indians, while also helping the Americans with the occasional arrest of a top Al-Qaeda figure.

"This is a long, long story which has evolved through changing circumstances in Afghanistan, going back to the earliest days of the Taliban which had a first-hand mid-wife when it was born that was the ISID," said Paul Pillar, the former top US intelligence officer on the Near East and South Asia.

"They have been pursuing an agenda for quite some time that is not consciously or deliberately in direct conflict with the United States. It is one that can better be described as hedging one's bets as regards to future events in Afghanistan," he said.

The United States has overlooked the ISI's connections because 80 percent of supplies to US and NATO forces must pass through Pakistan to get to Afghanistan.

"Every meal we eat, and every bullet we shoot arrives in Afghanistan courtesy of the Pakistani military," Riedel said. "If they want to put pressure on us, it is very easy for them to do that. They just slow down approvals, slow down convoys, and American and NATO soldiers will start to get hungry very fast." <--- Pak Planners Please note , take this into account next time they try to twist our arm

But over the past three years the Taliban, Al-Qaeda and other militant groups have rebounded from safe havens in Pakistan, pouring over the border into Pakistan.

A new civilian government in Islamabad has tried to cut deals with the militant groups, but US officials say this has allowed militants to train and join the fight in Afghanistan with little opposition.

"One way or the other the ISI, or elements within the ISI, appear to be taking advantage of this change in the government's policy to strengthen their ties with these jihadi groups," said Bruce Hoffman, an expert on terrorism at Georgetown University.

"The consequences of it are an increase in border infiltrations and uptick in the number of US lives (lost)," he said.

Afghanistan and India accused the ISI of being behind a suicide bombing July 7 at the Indian Embassy that killed more than 60 people. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said days later he saw no evidence of a foreign hand in the attack.

Riedel sees the ISI's alleged involvement in the bombing as part of a broader power play by the Pakistani military -- and possibly President Pervez Musharraf -- to undermine Pakistan's civilian government.

"The particular point of danger is the concern that the army may be reviving tension with India, which is a longstanding tactic of those in the army that want to protect their equities," said Riedel.

"Create tensions with India and then the army seems more and more critical to the survival of the country," he said.

 

[Neo]

Who died and made CIA God? If there's one organisation involved in clandestine operations around the globe its CIA. She's dealt with dictators, rogue leaders, approached terrorists around the world to fight jihad in Afghanistan during the Sovjet invasion...now she's pointing fingers at us?

This is hilarious!

 

[megatron_404]

If at all the ISI does have such links and does support terrorists (I am not saying it does), is there any authority that the ISI reports to? so that it can be penalized for such activities? It is not under a civilian authority so is it like an independent body?

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

"They have been pursuing an agenda for quite some time that is not consciously or deliberately in direct conflict with the United States. It is one that can better be described as hedging one's bets as regards to future events in Afghanistan," he said.

This is perhaps a more accurate description of the perceived diversion between US and Pakistani interests, instead of the 'sponsoring terrorism' or 'state within a state' canards often bandied about.

Among other issues, it boils down to a lack of faith in the continuity of US policy, which is not unfounded given its fickle behavior through history, and even after 911. But perhaps even more than 'continuity' it is the visible direction that US policy in Afghanistan has taken, oblivious of Pakistan's concerns in the region, and of Pakistani constraints domestically.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

If at all the ISI does have such links and does support terrorists (I am not saying it does), is there any authority that the ISI reports to? so that it can be penalized for such activities? It is not under a civilian authority so is it like an independent body?

The ISI is under a civilian authority - the elected Prime Minister, and the ISI DG has been typically appointed by the Prime Minister or President (President currently I believe - though not entirely certain), in consultation/recommendation with the COAS.

The current DG ISI is Nadeem Taj, who is a Musharraf confidante and relation. The previous DG ISI was current COAS Gen. Kiyani, who was instrumental in utilizing the ISI to track down extremsit sympathizers within the services after the assassination attempts on Musharraf.

The hierarchy of the ISI and military therefore does not lend to an organization 'out of control', and it hasn't for quite a few years now.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

The CIA outlines ISI links with Pakistan militants and Pakistan intelligence rift threads have been merged.

 

[Goodperson]

Bush voices concern over ISI role

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Pakistan denies as CIA accuses agency of backing militants

By Sami Abraham

Bush voices concern over ISI role

After going through this I start to believe India did share intelligence inputs with US. Actually I was surprised byt the tone of reaction of MEA after kabul Bombing.

 

[Cheetah786]

Pakistan says its intelligence agents have been accused by the US of alerting al-Qaeda linked militants before the US launches missile attacks against them.

Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar said members of Inter-Services Intelligence were accused of "tipping off" militants before strikes in the tribal areas.

Mr Mukhtar said that the Americans "mistrusted" the ISI.

His unusual public admission of the rebuke seems to mark a new low in ties between the US and Pakistan's spies.

'Who's in charge?'

Mr Mukhtar was speaking in Washington, where he is accompanying Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on his first visit to the US.

Speaking on Pakistan's Geo TV, he said the Americans had alleged that information about targets was being "leaked".

"The burning issue of course is as to who controls the ISI," he said.
"In their [the Americans'] view there are some people at some level in the ISI who tip off the Taleban at some level about impending missile attacks when these are shared with the Pakistanis.

"They [the Americans] have expressed displeasure over this."

Mr Mukhtar also openly admitted that President Bush had asked who was really in charge of the ISI during the visit to Washington.

The BBC's security correspondent Rob Watson says that relations between the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the ISI appear decidedly strained.

Our correspondent says that the stern message apparently being delivered to Islamabad was that Pakistan has to do more to tackle ties between the ISI and Islamic extremists based in the country's tribal areas.

American unhappiness with Pakistan's recently-elected civilian government could also embarrass President Musharraf and the Pakistani army, in addition to raising new concerns about the stability of the nuclear-armed state.

'Great institution'

The US no longer gives Pakistan advance notice when it targets militants in tribal areas, correspondents say.

The ISI is the main intelligence wing of the army, which directs its operations, although under the law it reports to the prime minister.

Elements within the ISI have long been accused by politicians and foreign governments alike of supporting the Taleban.

On Saturday, the government said the ISI would be brought under the control of the Interior Ministry.

But the decision was revoked within hours, apparently following intervention from the army.
Prime Minister Gilani - whose Pakistan People's Party has a history of run-ins with the ISI - recently called it a "great institution".

He said that he did not believe reports that some members of the ISI were sympathetic to the militants.

On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that a senior CIA official had confronted Pakistani officials with evidence of ISI links to militants, in addition to its involvement in a recent suicide car bomb attack outside the Indian embassy in Kabul that killed 58 people.

Pakistan strenuously denied any links to the attack.

Our correspondent says that while the latest American complaints in relation to the ISI look like something of a low point, it would be wrong to write off the relationship between the ISI and the CIA.

Western security officials often say you cannot deal with violent Islamic extremists without dealing with Pakistan and you cannot deal with Pakistan without the ISI.

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Pakistan spy agency accused by US

 

[muse]

From the first post of this thread, readers have been requested to read with care, that is to say, critically, and to pay partcular attention to the author of the piece -- below is a follow up from today's IHT - readers will also note Ambassador Haqqanis statement that there may be some foreign influence that was exerted to ensure this line of inquiry or exposition along with "facts" was followed, in particular, readers will not fail to notice the idea of "intercepted communication" and will recall where they run into the same line readers also requested to note some of the points and personalities hammered at in the now three pieces by Mr. Mazzaetti:

Readers will also want to read Mr. Saigal Piece in the "Govt forced to..." thread on the National politics Board


Pakistanis aided attack in Kabul, U.S. officials say
By Mark Mazzetti and Eric Schmitt

Friday, August 1, 2008
WASHINGTON: American intelligence agencies have concluded that members of Pakistan's powerful spy service helped plan the deadly July 7 bombing of India's embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, according to United States government officials.

The conclusion was based on intercepted communications between Pakistani intelligence officers and militants who carried out the attack, the officials said, providing the clearest evidence to date that Pakistani intelligence officers are actively undermining American efforts to combat militants in the region.

The American officials also said there was new information showing that members of the Pakistani intelligence service were increasingly providing militants with details about the American campaign against them, in some cases allowing militants to avoid American missile strikes in Pakistan's tribal areas.

Concerns about the role played by Pakistani intelligence not only has strained relations between the United States and Pakistan, a longtime ally, but also has fanned tensions between Pakistan and its archrival, India. Within days of the bombings, Indian officials accused the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, of helping to orchestrate the attack in Kabul, which killed 54, including an Indian defense attach&#233;.

This week, Pakistani troops clashed with Indian forces in the contested region of Kashmir, threatening to fray an uneasy cease-fire that has held since November 2003.

The New York Times reported this week that a top Central Intelligence Agency official traveled to Pakistan this month to confront senior Pakistani officials with information about support provided by members of the ISI to militant groups. It had not been known that American intelligence agencies concluded that elements of Pakistani intelligence provided direct support for the attack in Kabul.

American officials said that the communications were intercepted before the July 7 bombing, and that the CIA emissary, Stephen Kappes, the agency's deputy director, had been ordered to Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, even before the attack. The intercepts were not detailed enough to warn of any specific attack.

The government officials were guarded in describing the new evidence and would not say specifically what kind of assistance the ISI officers provided to the militants. They said that the ISI officers had not been renegades, indicating that their actions might have been authorized by superiors.

"It confirmed some suspicions that I think were widely held," one State Department official with knowledge of Afghanistan issues said of the intercepted communications. "It was sort of this 'aha' moment. There was a sense that there was finally direct proof."

The information linking the ISI to the bombing of the Indian Embassy was described in interviews by several American officials with knowledge of the intelligence. Some of the officials expressed anger that elements of Pakistan's government seemed to be directly aiding violence in Afghanistan that had included attacks on American troops.

Some American officials have begun to suggest that Pakistan is no longer a fully reliable American partner and to advocate some unilateral American action against militants based in the tribal areas.

The ISI has long maintained ties to militant groups in the tribal areas, in part to court allies it can use to contain Afghanistan's power. In recent years, Pakistan's government has also been concerned about India's growing influence inside Afghanistan, including New Delhi's close ties to the government of Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president.

American officials say they believe that the embassy attack was probably carried out by members of a network led by Maulavi Jalaluddin Haqqani, whose alliance with Al Qaeda and its affiliates has allowed the terrorist network to rebuild in the tribal areas.

American and Pakistani officials have now acknowledged that President George W. Bush on Monday confronted Pakistan's prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, about the divided loyalties of the ISI.

Pakistan's defense minister, Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, told a Pakistani television network on Wednesday that Bush asked senior Pakistani officials this week, " 'Who is in control of ISI?' " and asked about leaked information that tipped militants to surveillance efforts by Western intelligence services.

Pakistan's new civilian government is wrestling with these very issues, and there is concern in Washington that the civilian leaders will be unable to end a longstanding relationship between members of the ISI and militants associated with Al Qaeda.

Spokesmen for the White House and the CIA declined to comment for this article. Pakistan's ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani, did not return a call seeking comment.

Further underscoring the tension between Pakistan and its Western allies, Britain's senior military officer said in Washington on Thursday that an American and British program to help train Pakistan's Frontier Corps in the tribal areas had been delayed while Pakistan's military and civilian officials sorted out details about the program's goals.

Britain and the United States had each offered to send about two dozen military trainers to Pakistan later this summer to train Pakistani Army officers who in turn would instruct the Frontier Corps paramilitary forces.

But the British officer, Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, said the program had been temporarily delayed. "We don't yet have a firm start date," he told a small group of reporters. "We're ready to go."

The bombing of the Indian Embassy helped to set off a new deterioration in relations between India and Pakistan.

This week, Indian and Pakistani soldiers fired at each other across the Kashmir frontier for more than 12 hours overnight Monday, in what the Indian Army called the most serious violation of a five-year-old cease-fire agreement. The nightlong battle came after one Indian soldier and four Pakistanis were killed along the border between sections of Kashmir that are controlled by India and by Pakistan.

Indian officials say they are equally worried about what is happening on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border because they say the insurgents who are facing off with India in Kashmir and those who target Afghanistan are related and can keep both borders burning at the same time.

India and Afghanistan share close political, cultural and economic ties, and India maintains an active intelligence network in Afghanistan, all of which has drawn suspicion from Pakistani officials.

When asked Thursday about whether the ISI and Pakistani military remained loyal to the country's civilian government, Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sidestepped the question. "That's probably something the government of Pakistan ought to speak to," Mullen told reporters at the Pentagon.

Jalaluddin Haqqani, the militia commander, battled Soviet troops during the 1980s and has had a long and complicated relationship with the CIA He was among a group of fighters who received arms and millions of dollars from the CIA during that period, but his allegiance with Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda during the following decade led the United States to sever the relationship.

Haqqani and his sons now run a network that Western intelligence services say they believe is responsible for a campaign of violence throughout Afghanistan, including the Indian Embassy bombing and an attack on the Serena Hotel in Kabul earlier this year.

 

[Niazi9]

Pakistanis Aided Attack in Kabul, U.S. Officials Say
By MARK MAZZETTI and ERIC SCHMITT

WASHINGTON &#8212; American intelligence agencies have concluded that members of Pakistan&#8217;s powerful spy service helped plan the deadly July 7 bombing of India&#8217;s embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, according to United States government officials.

The conclusion was based on intercepted communications between Pakistani intelligence officers and militants who carried out the attack, the officials said, providing the clearest evidence to date that Pakistani intelligence officers are actively undermining American efforts to combat militants in the region.

The American officials also said there was new information showing that members of the Pakistani intelligence service were increasingly providing militants with details about the American campaign against them, in some cases allowing militants to avoid American missile strikes in Pakistan&#8217;s tribal areas.

Concerns about the role played by Pakistani intelligence not only has strained relations between the United States and Pakistan, a longtime ally, but also has fanned tensions between Pakistan and its archrival, India. Within days of the bombings, Indian officials accused the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, of helping to orchestrate the attack in Kabul, which killed 54, including an Indian defense attach&#233;.

This week, Pakistani troops clashed with Indian forces in the contested region of Kashmir, threatening to fray an uneasy cease-fire that has held since November 2003.

The New York Times reported this week that a top Central Intelligence Agency official traveled to Pakistan this month to confront senior Pakistani officials with information about support provided by members of the ISI to militant groups. It had not been known that American intelligence agencies concluded that elements of Pakistani intelligence provided direct support for the attack in Kabul.

American officials said that the communications were intercepted before the July 7 bombing, and that the C.I.A. emissary, Stephen R. Kappes, the agency&#8217;s deputy director, had been ordered to Islamabad, Pakistan&#8217;s capital, even before the attack. The intercepts were not detailed enough to warn of any specific attack.

The government officials were guarded in describing the new evidence and would not say specifically what kind of assistance the ISI officers provided to the militants. They said that the ISI officers had not been renegades, indicating that their actions might have been authorized by superiors.

&#8220;It confirmed some suspicions that I think were widely held,&#8221; one State Department official with knowledge of Afghanistan issues said of the intercepted communications. &#8220;It was sort of this &#8216;aha&#8217; moment. There was a sense that there was finally direct proof.&#8221;

The information linking the ISI to the bombing of the Indian Embassy was described in interviews by several American officials with knowledge of the intelligence. Some of the officials expressed anger that elements of Pakistan&#8217;s government seemed to be directly aiding violence in Afghanistan that had included attacks on American troops.

Some American officials have begun to suggest that Pakistan is no longer a fully reliable American partner and to advocate some unilateral American action against militants based in the tribal areas.

The ISI has long maintained ties to militant groups in the tribal areas, in part to court allies it can use to contain Afghanistan&#8217;s power. In recent years, Pakistan&#8217;s government has also been concerned about India&#8217;s growing influence inside Afghanistan, including New Delhi&#8217;s close ties to the government of Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president.

American officials say they believe that the embassy attack was probably carried out by members of a network led by Maulavi Jalaluddin Haqqani, whose alliance with Al Qaeda and its affiliates has allowed the terrorist network to rebuild in the tribal areas.

American and Pakistani officials have now acknowledged that President Bush on Monday confronted Pakistan&#8217;s prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, about the divided loyalties of the ISI.

Pakistan&#8217;s defense minister, Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, told a Pakistani television network on Wednesday that Mr. Bush asked senior Pakistani officials this week, &#8220; &#8216;Who is in control of ISI?&#8217; &#8221; and asked about leaked information that tipped militants to surveillance efforts by Western intelligence services.

Pakistan&#8217;s new civilian government is wrestling with these very issues, and there is concern in Washington that the civilian leaders will be unable to end a longstanding relationship between members of the ISI and militants associated with Al Qaeda.

Spokesmen for the White House and the C.I.A. declined to comment for this article. Pakistan&#8217;s ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani, did not return a call seeking comment.

Further underscoring the tension between Pakistan and its Western allies, Britain&#8217;s senior military officer said in Washington on Thursday that an American and British program to help train Pakistan&#8217;s Frontier Corps in the tribal areas had been delayed while Pakistan&#8217;s military and civilian officials sorted out details about the program&#8217;s goals.

Britain and the United States had each offered to send about two dozen military trainers to Pakistan later this summer to train Pakistani Army officers who in turn would instruct the Frontier Corps paramilitary forces.

But the British officer, Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, said the program had been temporarily delayed. &#8220;We don&#8217;t yet have a firm start date,&#8221; he told a small group of reporters. &#8220;We&#8217;re ready to go.&#8221;

The bombing of the Indian Embassy helped to set off a new deterioration in relations between India and Pakistan.

This week, Indian and Pakistani soldiers fired at each other across the Kashmir frontier for more than 12 hours overnight Monday, in what the Indian Army called the most serious violation of a five-year-old cease-fire agreement. The nightlong battle came after one Indian soldier and four Pakistanis were killed along the border between sections of Kashmir that are controlled by India and by Pakistan.

Indian officials say they are equally worried about what is happening on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border because they say the insurgents who are facing off with India in Kashmir and those who target Afghanistan are related and can keep both borders burning at the same time.

India and Afghanistan share close political, cultural and economic ties, and India maintains an active intelligence network in Afghanistan, all of which has drawn suspicion from Pakistani officials.

When asked Thursday about whether the ISI and Pakistani military remained loyal to the country&#8217;s civilian government, Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sidestepped the question. &#8220;That&#8217;s probably something the government of Pakistan ought to speak to,&#8221; Admiral Mullen told reporters at the Pentagon.

Jalaluddin Haqqani, the militia commander, battled Soviet troops during the 1980s and has had a long and complicated relationship with the C.I.A. He was among a group of fighters who received arms and millions of dollars from the C.I.A. during that period, but his allegiance with Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda during the following decade led the United States to sever the relationship.

Mr. Haqqani and his sons now run a network that Western intelligence services say they believe is responsible for a campaign of violence throughout Afghanistan, including the Indian Embassy bombing and an attack on the Serena Hotel in Kabul earlier this year.

David Rohde contributed reporting from New York, and Somini Sengupta from New Delhi.

Wow, what a break with protocol. Would the US publicly accuse another ally in such a manner? NYT doesn't run stories without reputable sources.

Ladies and gentlemen we're seeing a new calculus in play IMO. This will only give cover to the Hawks in India to retaliate which is exactly what the Jihadi morons in our establishment want.

I just don't understand why they wouldn't come to us first so that we could clean house...its just underscores the one sidedness of our relationship with the US. There is no trust left.

 

[IceCold]

US is so concerned about ISI, they better should also be about the Indian involvement inside our tribal areas. Its happening right under the US nose and i highly doubt that US is not aware of whats going on, it is however another matter why are they choosing to turn a blind eye to it. Maybe because of their newly developed relations with India, they (US) do not want to put a strain on to that, also there might be a case that US indirectly too is involved in destabilizing border area so that once if they get seperate it would be more easy for the US to attack them and take them into their direct control as compared to now. Remember it was the US think tank that showed these areas as independent. We cannot rule out US involvement as well. I remember when the Chinese got killed, the official government report confirmed that CIA and RAW is behind this.

 

[Neo]

Pak rejects US report blamed ISI for Kabul attack​

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday denied a newspaper report that its intelligence service helped plan a bombing of India's embassy in Kabul that killed at least 41 people.

The New York Times reported that American intelligence agencies have concluded that members of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence were involved in the July 7 attack in the Afghan capital.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Sadiq describedthe report as ``total rubbish.''

Sadiq said there was no evidence of ISI involvement. ``The foreign newspapers keep writing such things against ISI and we reject these allegations,'' he said by telephone from a summit of South Asian leaders in Sri Lanka.

Pak rejects US report blamed ISI for Kabul attack

 

[GHATAK]

As I had said earlier on one of my post - having the capability of making a bomb blast in afghanistan is one thing - and analysing its effect is another thing.

1. Afghanistan was a wrong target - It is US controlled and ISI could have been easily exposed.
2. Anything that happens in afghanistan will get world attention - because there are troops from many countries and their security is under threat.

Had this blast happened in India, the effects would NOT have been so negative for pakistan.

Now if GOP denies its involvement, not many are going to belive it, because the reports are from CIA.

 

[Spring Onion]

As I had said earlier on one of my post - having the capability of making a bomb blast in afghanistan is one thing - and analysing its effect is another thing.

2. Anything that happens in afghanistan will get world attention - because there are troops from many countries and their security is under threat..

yes indeed anything happens in Afghanistan will get World Attention

And thats why India in collaboration with CIA carried out Kabul blast as on the one hand India got world attention and on the other hand Pakistan was blamed for these.

Furthermore CIA. NATO got another excuse to blam own weakness to contain fighters in Afghanistan, on Pakistan.

India and CIA shot two sparrows with one arrow rather three sparrow.

Had this blast happened in India, the effects would NOT have been so negative for pakistan.

Now if GOP denies its involvement, not many are going to belive it, because the reports are from CIA.

The involvement of CIA is the strongest reason NOT to believe it.


And who are these "many" who are not gonna believe us ??

The US/NATO/CIA, India and Karzai !

The world dont believe them either.


And now look at the chronology of blams and plan by CIA, and India to damage ISI.

1. Soon after the Kabul Indian Embassy blast, Indian offcial called for destroying ISI.
2. Karzai started barking at ISI saying it was involved in attack on him.
3. CIA, US pressurized Rehman Malik to bring ISI under his ministry.
4. The attempt by CIA to break up ISI was miserbly failed.
5. CIA after facing humiliation in White House over failur to bring down ISI, had issued this report.

Now one can see the exis between CIA, India, Karzai against ISI.