Cooperation between agencies
Air Marshal Ayaz A Khan (R)
Pakistan is being bombed by the American’s in the North West and bled by
terrorists within. Missile bombings by USAF pilotless guided drones are
killing alleged Al-Qaeda militants, but the collateral death and
destruction is immense. Besides Pakistan’s air space is being violated
and national sovereignty abused. Suicide bombings by terrorists are on
the increase. Pakistan is in the vortex of death, and terrorist insanity
. The government is doing whatever it can to fight and defeat the
terrorists. But without fullest national and public motivation and
involvement ridding terrorism is an uphill task. Also as and when the
Taliban are defeated, remnants of militants will keep doing what they
are doing- spreading death and anarchy. Pakistan is publicly complaining
about U.S. airstrikes. Washington has promised to stop, but drone
bombings are continuing unabated.
Pakistan’s new chief of intelligence, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, gave a
comprehensive briefing to the joint session of the Parliament, after
which a unanimous resolution was adopted to crush terrorism. Soon after,
Lt. Gen Shuja visited Washington D.C for talks with America’s top
military and spy chiefs. Washington Post reported that after the
meetings, ”everyone seemed to come away smiling They could pat
themselves on the back, for starters, for the assassination of Khalid
Habib, al-Qaeda’s deputy chief of operations. According to Pakistani
officials, he was killed on Oct. 16 by a Predator strike in the
Pakistani tribal area of South Waziristan. Habib, No. 4 leader in
al-Qaeda, was involved in recruiting Al-Qaeda operatives for future
terrorist attacks against the United States. The hit on Habib attests to
the growing cooperation — in secret — between the United States and
Pakistan in the high-stakes war along Pakistan’s border with
Afghanistan, which U.S. intelligence official’s regard as the crucial
front in the war on terrorism. The C.I.A had been gunning for Habib for
several years, including a January 2006 Predator attacks that produced
false reports that he had been killed. The agency has needed better
human intelligence on the ground, and improved liaison with Pakistan’s
Inter-Services Intelligence agency, the ISI. Behind the stepped-up
Predator missions in recent weeks is a secret understanding between the
United States and Pakistan about the use of these drones. Given
Pakistani sensitivities about American meddling, this accord has been
shielded in the deniable world of intelligence activities. Officially,
the Pakistanis oppose any violation of their airspace, and the Pakistani
defense minister issued a public protest yesterday about the Predator
raids. But that’s not the whole story”.
The secret accord was set after the September visit to Washington by
Pakistan’s new president, Asif Ali Zardari. It provided new mechanics
for coordination of Predator attacks and a jointly approved list of
high-value targets. Behind the agreement was a recognition by the
Zardari government, and by Pakistan’s new military chief, Gen. Ashfaq
Kiyani, that the imminent threat to Pakistan’s security comes from
Islamic terrorists rather than from arch-rival India. The approved
target list includes, in addition to al-Qaeda operatives, some Afghan
warlords who were once sheltered by the ISI, including Gulbuddin
Hekmatyar, the Haqqani family network and Taliban leader Mohammad Omar.
Also on the target list is Baitullah Mehsud”.
The ground war in the tribal areas is the Pakistanis’ responsibility,
and they report some recent success. The most aggressive campaign has
been in the district of Bajaur, just east of the Afghan province of
Kunar. In August, the Pakistani military began attacking al-Qaeda and
Taliban fighters there. When troops were stymied by a network of
tunnels, the Pakistanis called in their own air attacks. Tribal leaders
in Bajaur, angered by the fighting, began turning against the militants.
The Pakistanis claim similar success in mobilizing local tribes in the
border districts of Dir and Kurram. Next, they say, they plan to take
the ground war into North and South Waziristan, where al-Qaeda has its
most important refuges. A confidential Pakistani military report on the
recent fighting in Bajaur and neighboring Swat counted 1,140 insurgents
killed or wounded and 197 captured. Civilian casualties totaled 848
killed or wounded, plus 400,000 refugees. “
The United States is quietly helping by sending at least 25 Special
Forces soldiers to train Pakistan’s Frontier Corps. But the Americans,
recognizing public sensitivity to foreign interference, are keeping a
low profile. What’s different on the Pakistani side isn’t just the
secret cooperation with America. There was lots of that under the
previous president, Pervez Musharraf. What’s new is that Zardari and
Kiyani are working openly to build popular support for their operations
against the Muslim militants. An example was testimony on the terrorism
threat last month to a secret session of the Pakistani parliament by
Pasha, the new ISI chief, which was widely reported. And Kiyani seems
determined to stop Musharraf’s practice of using the ISI to maintain
contact with the Afghan warlords. He has cleaned house by appointing new
heads for the service’s four main directorates, in addition to the new
chief. U.S. military and intelligence chiefs applaud Pakistan’s
cooperation. But they’re still nervous. The U.S.-Pakistan relationship
hangs by a slender thread; Pakistani pride sometimes prevents officials
from taking full advantage of the relationship, and America’s embrace
has sometimes been politically fatal for pro-American leaders, such as
Musharraf. And it’s an inherently unstable arrangement: Pakistan’s
leaders publicly decry U.S. attacks, and the United States, with a wink
and a nudge to its ally, keeps on attacking.”
The general impression is that American military, the United States Air
Force and CIA is not sharing pertinent intelligence with ISI. That U.S.
drone attacks are being mounted without consulting or informing
Pakistani authorities. But visit of DG I.S.I Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha,
and meetings with heads of US spy agencies in Washington D.C, could be
inferred as cooperation in this sensitive field. If true it means that
our leaders are shedding crocodile tears, in criticizing American
missile attacks on tribal villages.
The government and the military must clarify. The report within inverted
commas was written by David Ignatius and was published by the Washington
Post on Tuesday November 4th ,2008. There is nothing secret about it.
Washington Post is a mass circulated, globally read American daily.
Government action to fight terror is succeeding, but crushing the
terrorists in Waziristan is a far cry. Cooperation between spy agencies
of regional countries is essential. The government must crush terrorism,
but it is not possible without the intelligence and material help of
friends. |
