Pakistan’s ISI from the inside

[SQ8]

Santro:

While I agree with most of what you have written -- I think other nations also went through this crucible to shine at a later stage. We will make mistakes but there will also be a learning curve (Provided we speak the truth about our history -- both victories and defeats). This is the key (The history bit) otherwise this experiment will turn us into a quasi banana republic type of a failed state.

The baratheri element is slowly being eroded by urbanization and inroads of the media. The challenge is to speak the truth. The media has a huge responsibility here but it, at this point in time, does not understand the critical role it has to play in the future nation building.

BTW I agree with your observation on ISI. There have been some remarkable successes but also some colossal mistakes - those we can see clearly see, the successes -- very little to write home about given the current circumstances. That is the nature of the spy-craft the CIA also complains of this unfair treatment by the American public.

I dont know, the Baraderi thing is still going strong.. urbanization has only increased the population in the cities, not the effect on the vote banks that elect a leader.

ISI serves itself and the PA by extension first and foremost, having successfully sold itself on the idea that it is the best judge of what the national interests are, and I can agree that it will continue to do so.

Those tales that you mention, are heroic no doubt, and the rank and file who gave their lives are to be respected forever. The real pity is that those who benefit from those untold sacrifices are not the people, but the elite.

What I fear is that the one eyed fool is likely going to poke himself in the sole eye and stumble around only to drown in the kitchen sink if present trends continue.

One cannot expect it to serve selflessly.. the people who make the decision makers in the ISI at the top. Are always first and foremost going to protect their own hide, if they had not their chances of making Maj gen would have been reduced. Let alone head the ISI.
The people below more often than not carry out their jobs to the best of their abilities.. both in the Army and ISI.
But the subordinate nature of the ISI.. i.e being answerable to the Chief first.. and not the GoP is the prob.

 

[Vassnti]

Interesting to read the complete article the start of wich was used for the current article.

Pakistan Military and ISI Must Purge Ranks by Steve Clemonds

A few years ago, I was invited to an extraordinary set of meetings in Beijing organized by Marika Vicziany of Monash University. The meeting featured participants like then Labor Party leader (and next Australia Ambassador to the U.S.) Kim Beazley and former Ministers of Defense of India and China -- and leading policy personalities from the Asia Pacific region. And Generals from Pakistan.

I was the token American in what was a fascinating exercise of China, India and Pakistan former officials floating trial balloons about their respective nations' security needs and assessments among a ring of people very close to incumbent power.

My flight was late, but when I arrived I rushed in to the conference opening luncheon and sat at the first table I found a seat. I usually say hello to every person at tables I'm seated at and did so this time.

And as I worked around the group, I met a tough-edged but obviously seriously intelligent general from Pakistan, Asad Durrani. I didn't know much about him then but could tell that my table companions had been discussing Pakistan's ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) -- so I jumped in with a question:

General Durrani, does President Musharraf really not control the ISI? Or is this a big put-on?
I had hit a nerve of the table as every jaw dropped -- except Durrani's.

He sat there, quite nonplussed by the question which I had just pitched to the person everyone but I knew had actually been the head of ISI in the early 1990s.

Durrani seemed to like my candor, and he candidly responded:

President Musharraf may have much to gain by seeming that he does not control ISI.
I became quite taken with the level-headed candor and smart strategic sense General Durrani displayed over the next two days -- and his comments about ISI and Pakistan's political leadership were deeply imprinted on my thinking about the shell game of trusting Pakistan's intelligence and national security services.

Now after news that nine armed terrorists linked to al Qaeda and Pakistan's Taliban infiltrated the command headquarters of Pakistan's military, it seems to me that whatever certainty of control Pakistan's political and military leaders had over their ranks is now broken.

The Rawalpindi incident could not have occurred without inside help, and fortunately, one of the ringleaders in the attack, a former soldier named Muhammad Aqeel, was captured.

Pakistan's responsible national intelligence authorities must now begin to track all of the contacts and intelligence relations of this terrorist operation and purge their ranks of those connected. When Aldrich Ames was hiding behind mole hunts in the CIA, it finally took an investigation by the FBI to finally bring him down.

Painful as internal hunts can be for those who are collaborating with enemies of a state, they must be pursued because confidence can't be established without purging those who are helping to empower the most virulent wings of the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as al Qaeda and other groups.

This is Pakistan's fight but it has bearing on all of its allies and partners -- but tolerating a Pakistan security structure that is unwilling to exploit every lead to shut down internal spies and allies of those trying to bring down the Pakistani government and secure its nuclear weapons is not an option.

Pakistan should establish a Commission headed by General Asad Durrani with other former ISI director generals to run this search and hunt among their ranks.

The military and national security bureaucracy may protect some of their own in such a purge -- but in the end, all of those who are embedded and collaborating with the likes of those who led the military attack at Command Headquarters need to be neutralized.

-- Steve Clemons publishes the popular political blog, The Washington Note

It seems every few years a purge is called for or happens, one perhaps two i can imagine to remove people who dont fit but after four or five there are calls yet again for another.

It would seem the people being purged are to some extent being replaced by people with the same ideals and attitudes as those who left. The implication being that low level opperatives are given the boot for appeaance but no institutional change is taking place.

 

[VCheng]

.................................

It seems every few years a purge is called for or happens, one perhaps two i can imagine to remove people who dont fit but after four or five there are calls yet again for another.

It would seem the people being purged are to some extent being replaced by people with the same ideals and attitudes as those who left. The implication being that low level opperatives are given the boot for appeaance but no institutional change is taking place.

That would be an archetypical example of a select few taking the nation for an extended exploitative ride, just like the good old days of the USSR and the Communist party, and so many other examples from history.

 

[emoriphious]

We must know what is ISI made up of.ISI is one of the best and very well organized intelligence agency in the world .They are Pakistani's which are really loyal to country and performs such heroic like we normal used to hear, read in newspapers and see in TV channels and media .ISI is a good agency very good and as far as the US or Indian media is concerned you know they alway show every thing related to Pakistan as bad.

 

[VCheng]

We must know what is ISI made up of.ISI is one of the best and very well organized intelligence agency in the world .They are Pakistani's which are really loyal to country and performs such heroic like we normal used to hear, read in newspapers and see in TV channels and media .ISI is a good agency very good and as far as the US or Indian media is concerned you know they alway show every thing related to Pakistan as bad.

There is plenty of evidence to suggest otherwise, my dear Sir.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

It seems every few years a purge is called for or happens, one perhaps two i can imagine to remove people who dont fit but after four or five there are calls yet again for another.

It would seem the people being purged are to some extent being replaced by people with the same ideals and attitudes as those who left. The implication being that low level opperatives are given the boot for appeaance but no institutional change is taking place.

You are analyzing the issue from 'Western' eyes - you, and VCheng, refer to 'institutional change' without actually addressing the issues that the 'institution' considers paramount to Pakistan's national security.

Both of you choose to resort to the bogeyman of 'a select few taking the nation for a ride'. You choose to ignore the point being made here that even after several 'purges', and a military and intelligence leadership that has changed regularly, both in person and in ideology, from the 'Islamists' of Hamid Gul and Zia, to the 'moderates' of Karamat, Musharraf and Kayani, the one consistent dynamic has been the military's perceptions of threats to Pakistan's national security.

It is in addressing those concerns and perceived threats that 'institutional change' can be brought about, not by resorting to canards of 'a select few imposing their will on the nation'.

And when it comes to 'addressing Pakistan's national security concerns', the US has done absolutely nothing - in fact, the US has exacerbated those concerns:

- imposing a virulently anti-Pakistan, Northern Alliance based regime in Afghanistan after the invasion in 2001
- openly facilitating Indian nuclear ambitions through a discriminatory NSG exemption, while fighting against civilian nuclear projects in Pakistan with the assistance of China
- a long running smear campaign against Pakistan's military and intelligence
- continued refusal to assist Pakistan's economy and trade through increased market access to the US

etc. etc.

 

[VCheng]

..................t.he one consistent dynamic has been the military's perceptions of threats to Pakistan's national security.

It is in addressing those concerns and perceived threats that 'institutional change' can be brought about, not by resorting to canards of 'a select few imposing their will on the nation'.

..............................

A very good point, but is the military perception of the threats still correct in view of recent geopolitical changes, or outdated?

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

A very good point, but is the military perception of the threats still correct in view of recent geopolitical changes, or outdated?

1. Have the Indians indicated a willingness to redeploy their forces away from the IB?
2. Has the US increased Pakistan's role in finding a political solution to the conflict in Afghanistan or decreased it?
3. Have the Afghans moved to address Pakistani concerns on issues such as the Durand and safe havens for terrorists finding sanctuary in Eastern Afghanistan attacking Pakistan?
4. Has the US addressed the expected nuclear disparity between Pakistan and India that started with with the discriminatory NSG exemption for India?
5. Has the US increased or decreased its smear/proapganda campaign against the Pakistani military and ISI?

 

[VCheng]

1. Have the Indians indicated a willingness to redeploy their forces away from the IB?
2. Has the US increased Pakistan's role in finding a political solution to the conflict in Afghanistan or decreased it?
3. Have the Afghans moved to address Pakistani concerns on issues such as the Durand and safe havens for terrorists finding sanctuary in Eastern Afghanistan attacking Pakistan?
4. Has the US addressed the expected nuclear disparity between Pakistan and India that started with with the discriminatory NSG exemption for India?
5. Has the US increased or decreased its smear/proapganda campaign against the Pakistani military and ISI?

1. Why should India redeploy when it's growing economic clout will further strengthen its hand?
2. What can Pakistan offer that would justify giving it a bigger role at the table?
3. Has Pakistan done enough on it's side of the border?
4. Why should the US ensure nuclear parity with India, in view of the growing economic and political imbalance tilting ever increasingly towards India?
5. What if the campaign is actually based in truth?

 

[araz]

The key to all of the above is the Armed Forces of Pakistan and the National Security Council Setup. The Army, by hook or crook will have a foot in the National politics.

IMHO the answer is the NSC, Mid term elections with hope that a more saner lot can take over. If not and we have the same old faces than we can not blame any one else but ourselves and rightly so.

wishful thinking my dear friend. At the expense of making my self an enemy of the state let me tell you that the army enjoys this power and would never let go of it. It is not just the politicians who earn money out of a fiasco, the army also gains financially, and there is plenty of evidence to suggest this. How would the army let go of this tool that it has repeatedly used to harass the polity into submission.
As to mid term elections, who would be foolish enough to come and take over this financial and political mess, at loggerheads with the sole super power and surrounded by an ambitious power to be!! they want to make speeches and show that they are well wishers but at the end of the day they are all evil and self centered devils who are good for nothing. Therefore mark my words, no other political force will vie for mid term elections. With the world economy on the verge of another financial free fall, be prepared for another round of the same old same old.
Araz

 

[VCheng]

wishful thinking my dear friend. At the expense of making my self an enemy of the state let me tell you that the army enjoys this power and would never let go of it. It is not just the politicians who earn money out of a fiasco, the army also gains financially, and there is plenty of evidence to suggest this. How would the army let go of this tool that it has repeatedly used to harass the polity into submission.
As to mid term elections, who would be foolish enough to come and take over this financial and political mess, at loggerheads with the sole super power and surrounded by an ambitious power to be!! they want to make speeches and show that they are well wishers but at the end of the day they are all evil and self centered devils who are good for nothing. Therefore mark my words, no other political force will vie for mid term elections. With the world economy on the verge of another financial free fall, be prepared for another round of the same old same old.
Araz

Absolutely correct.

 

[53fd]

1. Why should India redeploy when it's growing economic clout will further strengthen its hand?
2. What can Pakistan offer that would justify giving it a bigger role at the table?
3. Has Pakistan done enough on it's side of the border?
4. Why should the US ensure nuclear parity with India, in view of the growing economic and political imbalance tilting ever increasingly towards India?
5. What if the campaign is actually based in truth?

1. India is the biggest arms importer in the world, & because of India, there is an arms race between India, Pakistan & China (not the other way around). India has more than 4 times the number of troops at the LOC than Pakistan does. Furthermore, the some of the money India spends on its forces can be used on development plans within the country, which they have been using UK loans for:

BBC News - Should the UK fund toilets in Mumbai slums?

2. Pakistan has the most on ground 'connections', the most amount of leverage in the region. The US nor the Afghan government has this, & that is vital for the end-game in Afghanistan.

3. Yes, Pakistan has done much more on its side, on a much more limited budget; conducting successful operations in Swat, Bajaur, South Waziristan; & currently conducting successful operations in Kurrum, Mohmand, Orakzai. The US has not tackled the safe havens in Kunar & Nuristan that are being used by terrorists (Afghan & international Al-Qaeda) to attack Pakistan.

4. Nuclear parity is much needed in the region, & with the rising number of nuclear weapons from both India & Pakistan; it is all the more important, for a stable region.

5. What truth? The US brought the corrupt warlords into power again after 9/11, who were the reason the Taliban were formed in 1996 in the first place. The warlords have no support of the people, & with the Taliban rising again in Afghanistan, the US is negotiating with terrorists (surprise surprise!!!!) again, as long as it can maintain some sort of 'covert' presence in Afghanistan post 2014.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

1. Why should India redeploy when it's growing economic clout will further strengthen its hand?
2. What can Pakistan offer that would justify giving it a bigger role at the table?
3. Has Pakistan done enough on it's side of the border?
4. Why should the US ensure nuclear parity with India, in view of the growing economic and political imbalance tilting ever increasingly towards India?
5. What if the campaign is actually based in truth?

If the answer to all of my questions is 'no', regardless of the justifications you made above, then the answer to your question is that 'the military perception continues to be correct, and Pakistan's national security concerns, legitimate'.

 

[VCheng]

Edit: Post deleted as I feel it is not needed anymore.

 

[araz]

You are analyzing the issue from 'Western' eyes - you, and VCheng, refer to 'institutional change' without actually addressing the issues that the 'institution' considers paramount to Pakistan's national security.

Both of you choose to resort to the bogeyman of 'a select few taking the nation for a ride'. You choose to ignore the point being made here that even after several 'purges', and a military and intelligence leadership that has changed regularly, both in person and in ideology, from the 'Islamists' of Hamid Gul and Zia, to the 'moderates' of Karamat, Musharraf and Kayani, the one consistent dynamic has been the military's perceptions of threats to Pakistan's national security.

It is in addressing those concerns and perceived threats that 'institutional change' can be brought about, not by resorting to canards of 'a select few imposing their will on the nation'.

And when it comes to 'addressing Pakistan's national security concerns', the US has done absolutely nothing - in fact, the US has exacerbated those concerns:

- imposing a virulently anti-Pakistan, Northern Alliance based regime in Afghanistan after the invasion in 2001
- openly facilitating Indian nuclear ambitions through a discriminatory NSG exemption, while fighting against civilian nuclear projects in Pakistan with the assistance of China
- a long running smear campaign against Pakistan's military and intelligence
- continued refusal to assist Pakistan's economy and trade through increased market access to the US

etc. etc.

Agno
Why would the US do anything to you when you yourself dont want to better your lot.The US finds it appropriate to issue a few visas, a few educational trips to someones son or daughter, or simply blackmail them for their stash in some far away land. Till such time that we have people like that the lot of our country will not improve.
We have seen a trend in our country of adhocism. In sixty odd yrs what institution has been built , or what lot of the people has been improved by a policy f the Government. I was on this board having arguments with people who used to sing praises of Musharraf in his prime, and I said at that time that the country,s problem remains ad hocsm and till such time that you correct hte basic underlying problems, all this short term gains will be negated in a fairly short time. At that time I was shot down in flames and told the country is doing brilliantly.
The institution that we consider to be a saviour of the nation has itself become a source of the problem. Dont ask me but go and ask MuradK what happened when he went back to his beloved air force after having been relieved of the charge after the M2K fiasco, what did his seniors tell him?
As to the US policy, they have had plans drawn up for this as far back as 2 or 3 decades. Did you think they learnt nothing from the Zaki Yamani episode? Why would they alter their plans which suit their purpose in a far away region and without compromizing their safety and at the expense of a few morsels thrown to some hungry dogs ,when it can virtually implant all the people it needs to achieve its aims and objectives. Even if you had some one with balls to stand up to it, all it would mean would be a few more dollars given be grudgingly but still trying to achieve the aims that they have.
We need institutions and policies which are consistent with our national interests and not the interests of either US or China. These must be borne with in a frame work of mutual respect and without compromising our national integrity. If not now , believe me a couple of decades down the line we will be having the same conversation about some other country but the scenario will not change.
I may already have said too much.
Araz