Pakistan Spies Remain Unfettered by Gov't While Aiding Militants

Pakistans spies, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) organization quashed a recent attempt at being placed under civilian rule. Leaving Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani with a less than robust appearance on the international stage.

The recent failed attempt by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to place the ISI under the rule of the Interior Ministry has probably left him an attitude of resentment for being pushed into action by foreign powers. It might also be hoped to have shown him the way to power in Pakistan is not through offering that power to someone else in government. The offer of placing the ISI under the power of the Minister of Interior, Rehman Malik was a poorly conceived political move on the part of a newly formed government, struggling to bring a wayward economy and internal militants under control. The elevation of Gilani to power came only at the cost of losing Benazir Bhutto, the former Prime Minister to an assassin last year. Gilani is not the power house behind the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), Bhutto's party, that title belongs to Benazir's widower Asif Ali Zardari. And Bhutto was not a favorite of the ISI, the ISI had actively worked against her in the 1993 elections as stated in a Time article.

Lieut. General Asad Durrani, a former director-general of the ISI, said in a BBC interview earlier this year that he had taken personal responsibility for "distributing money to the alliance against Benazir Bhutto" during the 1993 election. "After seeing the period that she had ruled, I thought it would be better if the lady did not come to power," he said.

While Washington has been pushing Gilani to bring the ISI under some sort of control for its alleged ties to militants within the Taliban and the other Islamic militants fighting against the local government of India in the disputed region of Kashmir, the ISI has been a largely secret organization for sixty years. The financial and administrative oversight by civilians has been rare and even when exercised could only be termed negligible. The ability for any issue to escalate to armed conflict between India and Pakistan would be viewed as a large failure in diplomacy for Washington and George Bush's Secty' of State Condi Rice after the numerous trips she has made between the two nations. During the time the ISI has been in existence it has been under the nominal control of the military, which was the reason former President Pervez Musharraf was able to wield the control needed to force the Taliban militants into caves in the border region shared with Afghanistan. A popular uprising was simply not a concern to him. Which is also the reason Washington continued to put up with all of the problems Musharraf offered in return for control of the Pakistan Afghan border. At the onset of Gilani's visit to Washington this week, he made the announcement of placing the ISI under civilian control. That process didn't last quite 24 hours and two phone calls from two Generals in the Pakistan military. At the end of the day, Gilani had found a face saving method of "clarification" to note he really only meant closer cooperation between the ISI and the Pakistani civilian government. The ISI has been both an ally to US operations in the area, while waging a proxy war against the former Soviet takeover in Afghanistan and a major thorn in the side while dealing with the Taliban militants now performing cross border raids into Afghanistan. as noted by the Australian Foreign Minster Stephen Smith. With all things considered, the inability of Gilani to reign in the ISI and its counter productive activities in Kashmir and the North Western Tribal areas is troubling for both Washington and the rest of the NATO forces fighting in the War on Jihad. Without strong leadership in an area which now serves as a staging ground for militant attacks on the NATO forces in Afghanistan, the War on Jihad is certain to drag on longer than is politically expedient for any of the Western nations, and may spell doom for the leadership of Prime Minster Gilani. Without doubt if this is the best he can do, he will make a poor partner for NATO forces to be aligned with in the fight against the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Beyond the issue of the ISI slapping down any attempt to be managed by a civilian force is the revelation of ISI involvement in the bombins which took place in Kabul, Afghanistan of the Embassy of India. In a Fox News story related to intercepted messages between ISI personell and local militants,

Officials said the communications were intercepted before July 7, but were not detailed enough as to reference a specific bombing, The Times reported.

“It confirmed some suspicions that I think were widely held,” a State Department official told The Times. “It was sort of this ‘aha’ moment. There was a sense that there was finally direct proof.”

Now that the cat is out of the bag, even more pressure is certain to placed on Gilani to bring the ISI under control. India is also guaranteed to have a response to the Pakistan involvement which will make any moves toward a Kashmir Region peace far less likely in the near future. American diplomats have also suggested the ISI is cooperating with local militants in Afghanistan in the fight against NATO and American forces. Neither of these developments is going to make political life easier for the Pakistani prime Minister, it will perhaps make it all but certain to find consensus among NATO forces to drop cooperation with the Pakistanis entirely. Cross border raids may even begin from the Afghan side, in effect taking the War on Jihad back to the enemy instead of allowing them to operate with impunity wherever they choose.