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| India-Pakistan |
| ISI being reorganized |
| 2002-02-28 |
If true, this is significant. It means Musharraf recognizes both the danger from ISI and the damage it's already done to Pakland. I read a denial of the downsizing somewhere, but that'd be pretty much SOP. Further, the ISI's Afghan desk has been closed down completely and the functions of the Kashmir cell have been reduced in that it will only report on political affairs in Indian-held Kashmir. That would seem to indicate that it's getting out of the covert operations business in the area - or that it's being subcontracted. If they're smart, they'll stick with the former. They've been ham-handed enough to blacken Pakland's reputation internationally without being competent enough to do more than keep the wars grinding on. For all their success in manipulating the Pashtun factions in Afghanistan and putting together the Taliban, in the end it was a screw-up because they lost control. The internal wing has now been given supreme position among all other intelligence agencies in the country and it has been empowered to coordinate with Musharraf to run the political affairs of the country. Not a good move, but in keeping with the military/intel culture in the country. A much better move would have been to get the intel organization out of the political realm completely - concentrate on military, diplomatic, external political and economic intel. But ISI's a KGB-style (internal and external intel/ops) rather than a CIA (external only) organization. That being the case, the government's always going to be vulnerable to its putative "sword and shield." But maybe this is just a first move... After September 11, the then director general of the ISI, Lieutenant-General (now retired) Mehmood, asked Musharraf to allow limited public demonstrations, which could then be used as a bargaining tool in negotiating the "price" of Pakistan giving its support to the US war on terror. Musharraf agreed half-heartedly and religious zealots soon whipped up popular support for the the Taliban and against US operations in Afghanistan. By the time the US started bombing Afghanistan, several demonstrators had been killed in Peshawar, Quetta and Karachi in clashes with the police. Strikes and protests were the order of the day and the law-and-order situation was rapidly spiraling out of control. According to the Indos, Mehmood was playing several double games at once. He was dispatched to talk the Taliban into dumping Binny and instead joined in the jihadi jollification session, whipping up the rubes to do their Islamic duty and resist the infidels. Then he talked Musharraf into trying the public riots deal, which bolstered the confidence of the Talibs while hurting Musharraf and made him look ineffectual. Bad boy. Khrushchev or Brezhnev would have shot him. Stalin would have had him killed slowly. Mao would have had him killed before he had the chance in the first place. Musharraf just retired him, indicating he didn't feel he had the support to effectively punish high treason. Mehmood was sacked and the ISI handed over to Lieutenant-General Ehsan ul-Haq, a loyal friend of Musharraf and a moderate, and all interior operations were under the eye of Haider, who was given powers to curb the demonstrations. He took harsh steps by first detaining all top religious leaders and then by issuing strict warnings, and the situation was brought under control. Haider would seem to be the hero of that story, and he paid for it when his brother was assassinated in December, probably as a warning. He still seems to be backing Musharraf, however. A meaningful ISI reorganization coupled with the organization being reined in and subordinated to the government instead of operating in parallel would be a victory for the war on terror almost as significant as the victory in Afghanistan. The objective has to be more than just rounding up the gunnies. That's not even the most important part. Without funding and coordination they become ineffective. ISI's been high on the list of the coordinators, and probably provided a considerable amount of the funding for terror operations, both in Afghanistan and on India's western and eastern borders. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |