US Vilifies Faithful
Old Ally
By Eric Margolis
03/08/08 "Toronto
Sun" -- - It’s blame Pakistan week. As
resistance to western occupation of Afghanistan intensifies, the
increasingly frustrated Bush administration is venting its anger
against Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan’s military
intelligence agency.
The White House leaked claims ISI was in cahoots with
pro-Taliban groups in Pakistan’s tribal area along the Afghan
border.
Pakistan’s Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar said the White House
accuses ISI of warning Pashtun tribes of impending U.S. air
attacks. President George W. Bush angrily asked Pakistan’s
visiting Prime Minister Yousuf Gilani, “Who’s in charge of ISI?”
In Ottawa, the Harper government dutifully echoed Bush’s
accusation against Pakistan, including the so far
unsubstantiated claim that ISI agents had bombed India’s embassy
in Kabul.
I was one of the first western journalists invited into ISI
headquarters in 1986. ISI’s then director, the fierce Lt.- Gen.
Akhtar Rahman, personally briefed me on Pakistan’s secret role
in fighting Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. ISI’s “boys”
provided communications, logistics, heavy weapons, and direction
in the Afghan War. ISI played the key role in the victory over
the Soviets.
On my subsequent trips to Pakistan I was routinely briefed by
succeeding ISI chiefs and joined ISI officers in the field,
sometimes under fire.
ISI is accused of meddling in Pakistani politics. The late
Benazir Bhutto, who often was thwarted by Pakistan’s spooks,
always scolded me, “you and your beloved generals at ISI.” But
before Musharraf, ISI was the Third World’s most efficient,
professional intelligence agency. It defends Pakistan against
internal and external subversion by India’s powerful spy agency,
RAW, and by Iran. ISI works closely with CIA and the Pentagon,
but also must serve Pakistan’s interests, which often are not
identical to Washington’s.
The last ISI director general I knew was the tough, highly
capable Lt.-Gen. Mahmood Ahmed. He was purged by the new
dictator, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, because Washington felt Mahmood
was insufficiently responsive to U.S. interests. Ensuing ISI
directors were all pre-approved by Washington. All senior ISI
veterans deemed “Islamist” or too nationalistic by Washington
were purged, leaving ISI’s upper ranks top heavy with yes men
and paper passers.
Even so, there is strong opposition inside ISI to Washington’s
bribing and arm-twisting the Musharraf dictatorship into waging
war against fellow Pakistanis and gravely damaging Pakistan’s
national interests.
ISI’s primary duty is defending Pakistan. Pashtun tribesmen on
the border sympathizing with their fellow Taliban Pashtun in
Afghanistan are Pakistanis. Many, like the legendary Jalaluddin
Haqqani, are old U.S. allies and freedom fighters from the
1980s.
TRIBAL UPRISINGS
Violence and uprisings in these tribal areas are not caused by
“terrorism,” but directly result from the U.S.-led occupation of
Afghanistan and Washington’s forcing the hated Musharraf regime
to attack its own people.
ISI is trying to restrain pro-Taliban Pashtun tribesmen while
dealing with growing U.S. attacks into Pakistan that threaten a
wider war.
India, Pakistan’s bitter foe, has an army of agents in
Afghanistan and is arming, backing and financing the Karzai
puppet regime in Kabul. Pakistan’s historic strategic interests
in Afghanistan have been undermined by the U.S. occupation. The
U.S., Canada and India are trying to eliminate Pakistani
influence in Afghanistan.
ISI, many of whose officers are Pashtun, has every right to warn
Pakistani citizens of impending U.S. air attacks that kill large
numbers of civilians.
But ISI also has another vital mission. Preventing Pakistan’s
Pashtun (15% to 20% of the population of 165 million) from
rekindling the old “Greater Pashtunistan” movement calling for
union of the Pashtun tribes of Pakistan and Afghanistan —
divided by British imperialism — into a new Pashtun nation. That
would tear apart Pakistan and invite Indian military
intervention.
Washington’s bull-in-a-china-shop behaviour pays no heeds to
such realities.
Instead, Washington demonizes faithful old allies, ISI and
Pakistan, while supporting Afghanistan’s communists and drug
dealers, and allowing India to stir the Afghan pot — all for the
sake of new energy pipelines.
As Henry Kissinger cynically noted, being America’s ally is more
dangerous than being its enemy.
Copyright © 2008, Canoe Inc.
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