Man behind CIA defeat in Pakistan

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Politics, security and peace are interlinked factors which are directly connected and get affected due to the policies of global powers. The, intelligence agencies play pivotal role in framing foreign policies of the states. However regional and international politics and security environment is being controlled by super powers in particularly through their intelligence agencies. In this connection, known top of the line agencies are CIA, Mossad, MI-6 and RAW.

These agencies cultivate their agents and activate anti-state elements to ménage and completion of their set objectives in Asia. After culmination of cold war era and 9/11episode, the countries like Russia, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, India, Middle East States, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have become main targets and focal points of CIA and its sister agencies’ activities. To push back foreign intelligence agencies, ISI under the supervision of a professional soldier “Lt General Ahmad Shuja Pasha” enormously done well for safe guarding of Pakistan’s national interest.

General Pasha took the charge of country’s prestigious organ when democratic system was in progress in 2008. He has continuously led a professionally organization “ISI” for three years under harsh security environment and is retiring on March 18, 2012 after completion of a meritorious service. Reportedly, General Pasha has been asked to continue for another extension of one year but he has himself declined another one year extension offer of the Government as DG ISI.

Prime Minister of Pakistan Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani has on record admitted publicly that government itself offered and requested Gen Pasha for extension of his tenure. It is also on record that while addressing the Parliament in OBL episode of 2 May 2011 Gen Pasha presented his resignation in the Parliament and said that he was ready to go home as a retired officer if Parliament desired so but it was not accepted by the parliament.

His performance do remind me quotation of one of my teacher, “brave soldier always starts his career with pride and says goodbye with honour and respect”. Definitely the quotation mentioned proved true and he would be remembered as symbols of professional competence, devotion to duty and loyalty with full commitment.

After 9/11 Pakistan offered unconditional support to US to fight and eliminate the terrorism, but unfortunately over a period of time US / CIA having developed some kind of malice against Pakistan started mistrusting ISI. There were clear signs of divergence of national interests between US and Pakistan. Hence, US led NATO forces especially CIA categorized ISI as a rival agency and failed to cooperate with the demands of ISI. On the other hand ISI offered full cooperation to CIA receiving bursting thrusts of terrorism. General Pasha dared to question the world’s powerful agency CIA to explain the goals of their operations and reveal the number of operatives present in Pakistani, using local and foreign assets.

CIA simply scoffed at such demands made by ISI Chief and tended to bulldoze their way through. Consequently  Raymond Davis case occurred as a precursor to halt US free loitering in Pakistan especially unbridled CIA operations inside Pakistan. In fact General Pasha stood like a rock before US / CIA to protect Pakistan’s national interests. This made Pakistan more proud as General Pasha showed the moral courage and strength of character to look into the eyes of the then mighty CIA Chief Leon Panetta with firm resolve, steadfast position and unwavering courage to uphold Pakistani interests.

General Pasha has clear thoughts and sharp mind especially when dealing with the opponents. He plainly indicated to CIA Chief Leon Panetta that since CIA did not trust ISI, therefore, ISI was not bound to keep the ties as they were. Panetta was totally surprised on such an unexpected remark. Resultantly harsh words were exchanged between the two which led General Pashas to cut short his Washington visit and come back to Pakistan. It simply speaks of his courage, mental shrewdness and decision making power to make judgments and critical evaluation to safeguard Pakistan’s interests.

Notably, General Kayani and his team has displayed excellent professional capabilities, ISI unveiled the foreign agenda and fully supported security forces in eradication of terrorists. In this regards over 5000 civilians and 3000 troops including officers and men have laid down their lives. It also includes the martyring of over 78 intelligence officials while fighting in global war against terrorism. While addressing in-camera session General Pasha very loudly mentioned that 112 check posts of the allied forces as opposed to the 812 of the Pakistani forces. 2.8 million Individuals of Swat and surrounding area became IDPs. Pasha while addressing also maintained parliament that the actions of the United States were not expected from an ally in war against terrorism. He said that there is difference between India and the United States.

Anyhow recently, U.S. has been forced to announce her withdrawal from Afghan region after leaving behind bases. In so called war against terrorism, CIA always tried to pitch ISI against Haqqani Group of Taliban which was plainly refused by Pakistan, since ISI successfully unveiled foreign agenda. Again Pakistan supreme Intelligence agency “ISI” managed to get the immigration procedures operative for US / CIA / UN official to follow and get filtered as per local rules. Consequently the CIA spies working in the garb of trainers at police College Sihala, near Kahuta Nuclear Plant, were pushed out of such sensitive area sending them back to US. Hence, the nation is proud of his nationalistic posture and courageous stance of ISI and its Chief General Pasha. In short He certainly would be remembered as “Man behind CIA defeat In Pak-Afghan Region”.

By Zaheerul Hasan 
(Pak Soldiers)

Pakistan Cyber Force

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Gen. Shuja Pasha - A great Spy Chief

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General Ahmad Shuja Pasha would have made many mistakes and would have failed on many fronts but he did wonders in limiting the role of CIA and FBI agents in Pakistan, the contribution that makes him look different from many others.

Gen Pasha has been the most hated Pakistani in Washington and a real pain in the neck for the CIA. For the same reason, his retirement has brought a sigh of relief to the Intelligence circles in the US. He was a rare breed of Generals, who would not be impressed with the influence of Washington and its powerful intelligence chief.

He has been the most difficult man to tackle for the Panettas and Patreauses of this world hence there have been demands from Washington that Pasha should be removed. It was his candidness and bluntness with his US counterparts, which made him one of the most powerful spymasters in the world.

Coming from a humble but well educated family and after having cleanly served the army with distinction for almost 35 years, Pasha took over as ISI chief, the position that earned him a lot of embarrassments and controversies.

Failures connected to the ISI during his tenure as its DG should remain a burden for him but there is hardly anyone to appreciate how he managed to limit the role of the American agencies in Pakistan.

Following 9/11 General Musharraf had put the sovereignty of Pakistan at stake and on sale by giving the kind of free hand to US agents that was simply unimaginable. “We had no idea how many foreign as well as local agents of CIA and FBI were operating within the territorial limits of Pakistan,” an official source said, adding that the American agents were spread all over.

Not only had Musharraf allowed the CIA and FBI to hire local agents in Pakistan in the garb of so-called war on terror, the Americans were also free to move in and out without any check. “At times we did not know who is coming and who is going, and what is brought in and what it taken out,” the source said.

This unimaginable concession for the US officials was first brought under check by no one else but Pasha on whose orders in October 2009 the facility of unchecked arrivals and departures with no scrutiny of their luggage at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport (BBIA) in Islamabad was formally withdrawn.

Gammon Gate of the BBIA, which was basically meant for food catering services and had a direct outside airport link without passing through immigration and customs checks, was specified for the US officials and for the UN officials too. This special facility had allowed the Americans to have unchecked arrivals and departures to and from the Islamabad Airport. The facility was massively misused and there were reports of even unauthorised and undeclared import of sensitive material and equipment, including weapons.

A CAA order, issued on the subject in 2009, did concede that the customs and immigration authorities have no arrangements/staff to check the movement and crew and other foreigners, etc. “The equipment related to aeroplane, the crew and their personal luggage also passes through this gate. During checking, US vehicles and the luggage they carry to and from apron area are not properly searched/checked by the ASF staff deputed to control the entry/exit at the Gammon Gate,” a document said, adding in view of this, use of the Gammon Gate by foreigners should be stopped forthwith as it was a serious security hazard.

In the garb of training, the CIA spies had their presence in and around vital sites of Pakistan’s national security. Police College Sihala near Kahuta Nuclear Plant was one such sensitive site from where Gen Pasha managed to root them out and packed them back to Washington.

To check the activities of ruthless members of Blackwater and DynCorp, the ISI under Pasha started checking the US “officials” and “diplomats” on the roads of Pakistan and even started questioning them and in some cases even taking them to police stations.

It was also on the direction of Pasha that action was launched against DynCorp and its local partner Inter-Risk, which was issued the prohibited bore licences by the interior ministry on the request of the US embassy.

Besides pushing the already present CIA and FBI agents out of Pakistan, Pasha pursued the policy of strict monitoring of the US visitors. He wanted a tight scrutiny of every visitor coming from Washington - a move that made the US administration angry.

Washington put pressure on the rulers in Islamabad, who in a strange decision had allowed its embassy in Washington under Hussain Haqqani to issue visas to US officials without getting clearance from the security agencies of Pakistan.

The issue of Raymond Davis and May 2 Abbottabad shame brought CIA and the ISI face to face. Clashes between CIA and ISI had actually begun after the Army chief’s refusal to lauch operation in North Waziristan, with Gen Shuja Pasha refusing to cooperate with the CIA unless the relationship was on an equal footing.

According to one report, visas to 1545 US employees in the name of diplomats, trainers, NGO workers or NATO officials were issued controversially and without proper scrutiny. After the Raymond Davis case, the ISI had asked CIA to disclose the location of its agents/employees in Pakistan and the nature of their appointment in Pakistan. After repeated questioning CIA kept denying that they had so many operatives in Pakistan. The ISI managed to expel many of them following the release of Raymond Davis - the incident that was a great embarrassment for Pakistanis - however the complete cleansing was still not done.

The clashes between ISI and CIA worsened when Pasha reportedly insisted on the one-point agenda that ISI would not support any CIA activity in Afghanistan or Pakistan if they do not declare their operatives in Pakistan. To this effect the CIA officials said in plain words that no such clarification would be made to ISI as all visas have been issued duly and by the Pakistani authorities. However, after a lot of discussion the CIA, according to the report, agreed to declare 1079 officials, which were operating in Pakistan under various capacities, but denied to give any clue about others.

The ISI, on the other hand, had a list of 438 US officials who were in Pakistan but were not present in any consulate or embassy staff of any city. Their whereabouts were reportedly asked from CIA, to which they gave a funny reply that many of them have been lost? The CIA reportedly claimed that these operatives were used in the FATA area for the war on terror but in various incidents they have either been kidnapped or killed by Talibans so now they were no more in Pakistan. This was something Gen Pasha could not stomach.

Pasha in his meeting with former CIA chief Panetta in Washington had clearly stated that if CIA did not trust ISI then ISI too was not bound to keep the ties as they were. Panetta never expected such a curt reply. Exchange of harsh words took place between the two, prompting Gen Pasha to abruptly end his visit. He left USA just 5 hours after his arrival.
Ansar Abbasi
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Pakistan Cyber Force

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Is ISI essential for National Security?

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Every country has a superior intelligence agency to protect the national security of the state. It not only copes with foreign anti-state elements, but also fights the psychological warfare including internal enemies. No army can fight without the support of an efficient secret agency which collects and assesses information in a most reliable manner. American CIA, Russian KGB, British MI-6 etc. might be cited as an instance.

In these terms, especially since 9/11, the role of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) was further increased to protect the country from external and internal threat, while fighting war against terrorism. In this respect, Pakistan has been facing multiple subversive acts being conducted by secret agencies like American CIA Indian RAW and Israeli Mossad which have been creating unrest in our country on massive scale. Penetration of foreign agents along with sophisticated weaponry, suicide attacks and targeted killings have become every day occurrence in the country.

When Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha became the Director General of the ISI in September, 2008, he took a number of steps to further improve the efficiency of the agency, responsible for collecting information and providing critical national security intelligence assessment to the Pakistan government. First of all, Gen. Pasha closed the internal wing of the agency. At that time, intermittently, US high officials and media have been accusing Pakistan’s army and our superior spy agency of close contacts with the Afghan Taliban and cross-border terrorism in Afghanistan. Under the pretext of these false allegations, US top officials started insisting upon Pakistan that ISI should be restructured. In this connection, the then Assistant Secretary of State, Richard Boucher had stated that ISI needed to be reformed. But when ISI DG, Shuja Pasha refused to restructure the agency on the pattern of US, blame game by America and India intensified against the agency and its chief.

It was due to the rejection of American undue demands by Gen. Pasha and his positive performance to protect the national interests of the country that with the tactical support of CIA, RAW and Mossad accelerated subversive acts in Pakistan, especially targeting ISI sub-headquarters, located in Lahore, Multan and Peshawar besides attacking the personnel of the agency at various places.

At the same time, Islamabad continued its counter-terrorism and intelligence sharing cooperation with America. In this regard, ISI captured a number of renowned Al Qaeda commanders in Pakistan, and foiled many terrorist attempts through pre-arrests of the militants. For example in February, 2010, with the help of ISI, nine Taliban insurgents including the Afghan Taliban’s second in command, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was arrested in Karachi. In that context, US high officials, while praising this key agency, admitted that Pakistan is cooperating with the US in relation to war on terror.


Despite all of this, under the supervision of Lt. Gen. Shuja Pasha, ISI prefered the external and internal security of Pakistan. Externally, through its invisible mechanism, it castigated the anti-Pakistan plot of the US India and Israel—also against China and became an obstacle in the secret strategic designs of these hostile elements.

Internally, ISI has thwarted the anti-Pakistan activities of the agents of Blackwater-US notorious private security firm in the country. Under the pretext of providing security to its embassies, US had deployed a network of espionage in Pakistan. In this respect, Blackwater and CIA started recruiting Pakistani nationals who were vulnerable and could work on their payroll. In this context, with the pre-information of ISI, Pakistan’s police and other security agencies arrested a number of agents. For instance, on September 19, 2009, police raided the Inter-Risk, a private security company in Islamabad, and arrested its two employees, namely Tauqeer and Muhammad Khan, possessing unlicensed shotguns, handguns and ammunition. On the other side, US embassy spokesperson Richard Snelsire pretended, “The US contract with the Inter-Risk is to provide security at the embassy and consulates.”

Besides, on many occasions, ISI helped in stopping the secret activities of the CIA agents who were traveling in vehicles, covered with black mirrors—showing themselves as diplomats. Sometimes weapons were snatched from them, and sometimes they were sent back to Islamabad. However, differences started between Pakistan and America as ISI interrupted covet activities of these so-called diplomats. In this respect, on the information of this top spy agency, Pakistan’s establishment expelled several American spies operating in the country. On the other side, US withheld $800 million in military aid to punish its military and ISI.

Meanwhile, Gen. Shuja Pasha became a special target of CIA and RAW. In this context, with the backing of Indo-Israeli lobbies, a case was filed against Pasha in New York, accusing him of facilitating the Mumbai bombings of November 26, 2008, which was, in fact, arranged by the non-stat actors in connivance with RAW. Question arises as to why a case was not registered against the US ex-President Bush and President Obama who were responsible for the illegal occupation of Iraq and massacre of thousands of people there including Afghanistan and other Islamic countries in the name of war on terror.

However, during his meeting with the CIA Director Michael Morell in July, 2011, Lt. Gen. Shuja Pasha flatly told that we would continue anti-terror and intelligence sharing cooperation between the two agencies, but would never tolerate a private ‘network’ the CIA is secretly maintaining in Pakistan.

In the aftermath of the Osama’s death on May 2011, US and Indian rulers including their media intensified their campaign against Pak Army and ISI. In this regard, in the in-camera session of the parliament, Islamabad decided to review its relationship with the United States. BBC quoted DG ISI Shuja Pasha, saying that Osama’s compound in Abbottbad was registered under a fake name. Earlier, he said that after the Tora Bora operation, Osama Bin Laden became an enemy of Pakistan. Nevertheless, it was US intelligence failure as its CIA which is well-equipped with modern technology failed in detecting Osama in ten years. According to BBC, Pasha explained, “Nobody expressed their condolences over the 78 officials of the ISI who have been killed.”

It is of particular attention that it was due to the professional competence of ISI under the Shuja Pasha in foiling the anti-Pakistan conspiracy that US and India accelerated their propaganda against him and the agency. In this connection, in the recent past, US Admiral Mike Mullen (R) alleged that the Haqqani network is waging a ‘proxy war’ in Afghanistan with the assistance of ISI, and blamed for an assault on the US embassy in Kabul on September 20, 2011. But US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton admitted that there was no evidence about ISI about the bombing of US embassy, while US top officials are still alleging this agency for cross-border terrorism. It shows American double game not only with Pakistan, but also with is superior spy agency.

Meanwhile, while briefing the participants of the All Parties Conference, ISI Chief indicated that Haqqani network has no presence in Pakistan as it has its base in Afghanistan. Pak Army and civil government also rejected US pressure tactics to do more against the Haqqani network in the North Waziristan as suggested by ISI Chief Lt. Gen. Shuja Pasha. Besides, when on November 26, 2011, unprovoked air firing by the US-led NATO on Pakistan Army outposts in Mohmand Agency killed 24 troops, Pakistan decided to review its engagement with the US and its other allies. For this purpose, the envoys’ conference deliberated on the country’s foreign policy on December 12, 2011, and ISI Chief Lt. Gen. Pasha briefed the participants about the intentional NATO strikes.

Notably, it is most regrettable that without knowing the ground realities and the services of ISI, just like the foreign enemy and their media, our rulers, some political leaders and media anchors are dis-reputing Pak Army—particularly ISI DG Shuja Pasha in connection with the memogate issue, while Gen. Pasha has left it to the Supreme Court to decide the case. In this context, what the difference one can note between our political leaders and media anchors who speak in tone of Pakistan’s external enemies in maligning ISI and its chief. It seems that some of our politicians and journalists are either on the payroll of US-led anti-Pakistan entities or they want to get good coverage in the western media by targeting ISI. No doubt their such acts are benefiting the US and India which want to create a division between Pakistan’s civil and security agencies so as to cause further unrest in the country. Instead of implicating ISI and its DG, Shuja Pasha, our internal elements must better know the services of this intelligence agency in thwarting various conspiracies against the integrity of the Pakistan, especially against its nuclear assets. Despite its limited resources as compared to CIA, RAW and Mossad, ISI has never failed in its goals. No doubt, ISI is essential for national security of Pakistan.

(KashmirWatch)

By Sajjad Shaukat who writes on international affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relation

Pakistan Cyber Force

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