For the past couple of weeks, the Pakistani government has been in a state of disarray and embarrassment. After years of adamantly stating that Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden wasn't in Pakistan, their naive assertion was proven wrong, when U.S. navy SEALS killed him in the city of Abbottabad. Now, they are trying to save face, saying that there was no way they could have known he was living within their borders, and that his massive compound did not arouse any suspicions, even with the Pakistani military's premier academy located only about a mile from where bin Laden was. Asif Ali Zardari, the president of Pakistan, seemed flabbergasted as to how bin Laden could have lived in his country for so long. He said that accusing his nation of knowingly harboring bin Laden was "baseless speculation" and that Pakistan was probably "the world's greatest victim of terrorism."
The world's greatest victim of terrorism? Not so much. The world's greatest enabler? Most likely. However, it should be noted that people such as President Zardari and the civilian agencies of their government are not to blame. It is the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan's version of the CIA, that is undermining and ultimately fighting against the War on Terror. Contrary to what many U.S. officials say, the ISI is not our ally, and it never will be. It has become so powerful in recent history that many describe it as a "state within a state", meaning that the ISI only answers to itself, and not the Pakistani Presidency. The ISI is also believed to have a large segment of members that are heavily sympathetic to radical Islamist ideology. While the ISI masquerades as a close partner with the U.S., it actually engages in backstabbing, sabotage, and collusion with terrorist organizations.
The ISI's radical and rouge behavior can be traced back to the mid 1990's, when they put strenuous effort into making sure that the Taliban secured power in Afghanistan. Once the Taliban took control of the country, their ties to the ISI were never broken off. When the U.S. invaded Afghanistan in the fall of 2001, the Taliban quickly fell out of power, and many of their senior leaders fled into Pakistan, where they are still believed to be hiding today. Pervez Musharraf, who was president of Pakistan at the time, assured President Bush that the ISI was not working with the Taliban. Bush accepted this reassurance, but in reality everybody knew that the ISI was hiding and protecting the Taliban, including Mullah Omar, their supreme leader.
The ISI's relationship with the Taliban isn't a one way street either. The ISI protects the Taliban from U.S. forces, and in return the Taliban and their allies are most likely given terror assignments from radical ISI members. Although this has not been proven completely, evidence supporting this idea continues to grow. In a recent cache of Guantanamo Bay interrogation reports, released by Wikileaks, a detainee reportedly said that the ISI played a major operational role in plotting attacks against India, one of our more loyal "allies". According to this detainee, an Algerian Al Qaeda militant, the ISI and elements in the Pakistani military would choose targets in India, and would then instruct Taliban militants to attack them. They also permitted the militants to conduct bombings and kidnappings in Kashmir, a area along the Pakistani-Indian border which has been the primary source of strong animosity between the two nations for several years now. Also, an upcoming terror trial in the U.S. against a Chicago based businessman could reveal that the ISI played a major role in coordinating the November 26, 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai. The Mumbai attacks were a series of commando style raids at airports, hotels, and other public places that killed 164 people and wounded over 300. The man at the center of the upcoming trial, Tahawwur Rana, is accused of playing a financial role in the attacks. According to him, the ISI trained and funded the terrorists who carried out the raids. If his accusation proves to be true, the ISI will undoubtedly come under even more scrutiny.
Then, of course, is the discovery of Osama bin Laden's fortified compound in Pakistan. In reality, this came as no surprise to U.S. intelligence officials. Many experts believed that bin Laden may have entered Pakistan as early as December 2001, after escaping the U.S. bombing raids in Tora Bora. Just last October,a NATO official said that bin Laden and his second hand man, Ayman al-Zawahiri, were living comfortably in houses somewhere in northwest Pakistan, a statement which has proven to be true (at least partially). Recent estimates have also shown that Al Qaeda is relatively non-existent in Afghanistan anymore, and that most of their members have moved into Pakistan and other unstable Muslim nations, such as Yemen and Somalia. All of the facts pointed towards bin Laden living in Pakistan, but the ISI willfully ignored those facts. Probably because they played a role in hiding him there. Only time will tell.
These recent developments and revelations have forced many government officials to start re-evaluating our relationship with Pakistan. Since 9/11, the U.S. have given Pakistan roughly $20 billion dollars in aid, with an additional $3 billion set to be given to them in the 2012 fiscal year. Many members of Congress have begun calling for this aid to be stopped, and who can blame them. Yes, the Pakistani people suffer from a great amount of hardships and natural disasters, but so does our country. Giving money to the Pakistani government is like writing a check to Al Qaeda itself. Then when we try to eradicate the militants they support through missile strikes, they get angry and close off NATO supply lines, which are needed to deliver foods and other necessities to our ground forces in Afghanistan. It's time to stop deluding ourselves. Stop the aid, do not treat Pakistan as an ally, and declare the ISI a terrorist organization. A nation with a rouge and subversive spy agency such as this will always be a bigger liability than an asset.
The world's greatest victim of terrorism? Not so much. The world's greatest enabler? Most likely. However, it should be noted that people such as President Zardari and the civilian agencies of their government are not to blame. It is the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan's version of the CIA, that is undermining and ultimately fighting against the War on Terror. Contrary to what many U.S. officials say, the ISI is not our ally, and it never will be. It has become so powerful in recent history that many describe it as a "state within a state", meaning that the ISI only answers to itself, and not the Pakistani Presidency. The ISI is also believed to have a large segment of members that are heavily sympathetic to radical Islamist ideology. While the ISI masquerades as a close partner with the U.S., it actually engages in backstabbing, sabotage, and collusion with terrorist organizations.
The ISI's radical and rouge behavior can be traced back to the mid 1990's, when they put strenuous effort into making sure that the Taliban secured power in Afghanistan. Once the Taliban took control of the country, their ties to the ISI were never broken off. When the U.S. invaded Afghanistan in the fall of 2001, the Taliban quickly fell out of power, and many of their senior leaders fled into Pakistan, where they are still believed to be hiding today. Pervez Musharraf, who was president of Pakistan at the time, assured President Bush that the ISI was not working with the Taliban. Bush accepted this reassurance, but in reality everybody knew that the ISI was hiding and protecting the Taliban, including Mullah Omar, their supreme leader.
The ISI's relationship with the Taliban isn't a one way street either. The ISI protects the Taliban from U.S. forces, and in return the Taliban and their allies are most likely given terror assignments from radical ISI members. Although this has not been proven completely, evidence supporting this idea continues to grow. In a recent cache of Guantanamo Bay interrogation reports, released by Wikileaks, a detainee reportedly said that the ISI played a major operational role in plotting attacks against India, one of our more loyal "allies". According to this detainee, an Algerian Al Qaeda militant, the ISI and elements in the Pakistani military would choose targets in India, and would then instruct Taliban militants to attack them. They also permitted the militants to conduct bombings and kidnappings in Kashmir, a area along the Pakistani-Indian border which has been the primary source of strong animosity between the two nations for several years now. Also, an upcoming terror trial in the U.S. against a Chicago based businessman could reveal that the ISI played a major role in coordinating the November 26, 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai. The Mumbai attacks were a series of commando style raids at airports, hotels, and other public places that killed 164 people and wounded over 300. The man at the center of the upcoming trial, Tahawwur Rana, is accused of playing a financial role in the attacks. According to him, the ISI trained and funded the terrorists who carried out the raids. If his accusation proves to be true, the ISI will undoubtedly come under even more scrutiny.
Then, of course, is the discovery of Osama bin Laden's fortified compound in Pakistan. In reality, this came as no surprise to U.S. intelligence officials. Many experts believed that bin Laden may have entered Pakistan as early as December 2001, after escaping the U.S. bombing raids in Tora Bora. Just last October,a NATO official said that bin Laden and his second hand man, Ayman al-Zawahiri, were living comfortably in houses somewhere in northwest Pakistan, a statement which has proven to be true (at least partially). Recent estimates have also shown that Al Qaeda is relatively non-existent in Afghanistan anymore, and that most of their members have moved into Pakistan and other unstable Muslim nations, such as Yemen and Somalia. All of the facts pointed towards bin Laden living in Pakistan, but the ISI willfully ignored those facts. Probably because they played a role in hiding him there. Only time will tell.
These recent developments and revelations have forced many government officials to start re-evaluating our relationship with Pakistan. Since 9/11, the U.S. have given Pakistan roughly $20 billion dollars in aid, with an additional $3 billion set to be given to them in the 2012 fiscal year. Many members of Congress have begun calling for this aid to be stopped, and who can blame them. Yes, the Pakistani people suffer from a great amount of hardships and natural disasters, but so does our country. Giving money to the Pakistani government is like writing a check to Al Qaeda itself. Then when we try to eradicate the militants they support through missile strikes, they get angry and close off NATO supply lines, which are needed to deliver foods and other necessities to our ground forces in Afghanistan. It's time to stop deluding ourselves. Stop the aid, do not treat Pakistan as an ally, and declare the ISI a terrorist organization. A nation with a rouge and subversive spy agency such as this will always be a bigger liability than an asset.
No comments:
Post a Comment