The WikiLeaks has reveled that the CIA has obtained information from Guantanamo inmates about the ISI having relation with Haqqani, Taliban and Al-Qaeda. This information is obtained by the use of force and torture that the Americans had applied to extract confession from the prisoners in Guantanamo.
Actually, the spat between the ISI and CIA broke out over the Raymond Davis affair. Moreover, as the Pakistan Army is not obliging the US by launching a military operation in North Waziristan which the Americans consider a terrorist haven from where they are attacking the NATO forces, it is the main problem in the military establishment with American forces who want to have favourable end game in Afghanistan. It does not take an expert to workout that the Americans have developed a “mindset” in respect of ISI that there are rogue elements within the agency that are having close relationship with the Taliban, forgetting that it was the Americans that involved ISI in the first place during the Islamic jihad against the communist Soviet Union.
It is not fair from the Americans to apply blanket value judgment on ISI’s network. The question is if CIA has the right to protect its country’s interest, why the ISI should not protect Pakistan’s national interests? Why Americans equate ISI with Hamas, Hezbollah, Egyptian Islamic Jihad when as an entity the ISI has nothing in common with them. The ISI set up is along different lines and it officers follow military discipline and they have played a key role in fight against militants. Is CIA is not working in tandem with Mossad and Raw? When these agencies are committed to work against Pakistan’s interests, why the ISI should not counter their anti-Pakistan activities?
Every thoughtful Pakistani wonders what the USA policy is towards Pakistan. Is it truly Pakistan’s strategic partner in the region or just a foe, using Pakistan whenever it needs for its own interest? It is unfortunate that the opposition leader in the national assembly is charging against the ISI at this critical junction when every Pakistani should stand behind and support intelligence and military establishment which has rendered great sacrifices for the motherland.
S T HUSSAIN
Lahore
