A wake-up call

[sonicboom]

A wake-up call

Published: July 10, 2010

DG ISI Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha’s briefing to the Parliamentary Committee on National Security led by Senator Raza Rabbani, in which he categorically stated that external forces were involved in terrorism in Pakistan and that the country should now rethink its strategy on war on terror, should send alarm bells ringing within the concerned government quarters. The General also told the committee that the ISI was keeping a close watch on the US and Indian strategic contours in the region.

Certainly, the intelligence agencies and in this case the ISI constitutes the ears and eyes of the government and it is their duty to keep them abreast of all the crucial developments happening around. But given the worry and a sense of urgency with which the head of the ISI, a no nonsense individual, has tried to portray the overall picture, rightly voicing our genuine security concerns, there is reason to believe that something has gone seriously wrong and now threatens our existence as a nation. Reading between the lines, it is pretty obvious that the foreign powers destabilising Pakistan that the General referred to, are the US and New Delhi. Just a few days back, he met with the Prime Minister and informed him about the dangers confronting Pakistan. It is comforting to know that the point that the General is trying to bring home to the leadership is to watch out for the Indo-US nexus in the region. Besides, the ongoing sinister campaign in the US intelligence and media circles to defame the ISI would further confirm their vicious designs. There should be little doubt that the Americans intend to weaken and politically discredit the ISI so that they could have a virtual free for all. Demigods that they are, the Americans certainly loathe the thought that the Agency can monitor their polices and activities in the region. The idea of the ISI being a regional policeman would certainly be an anathema to them and hence the vilification campaign against it. The US actually wants to create space for its covert military operatives and mercenaries like Dynacorp and Blackwater to play their blood and dagger games on our soil free of any scrutiny or checks.

Hillary Clinton, who would be visiting the country later this month, should be told in no uncertain terms that Washington’s plan to destabilise Pakistan would be dealt with an iron hand. As stressed by General Pasha, it is time Islamabad carved a new terror strategy. Is it any wonder that while the Americans themselves adopt a strategy that suits them, for instance negotiations with militants in Afghanistan, they invariably force Pakistan to resort to the use of force.

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