Targeting Pak intelligence agencies

British newspaper, The Guardian, has once again come up with WikiLeaks cables, targeting the premier Pakistani intelligence agency, the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).

In a shocking revelation, the paper stated the US authorities describe the top Pakistani

to interrogators at Guantanamo Bay rank the ISI alongside al-Qaeda, Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon; being linked to any of these groups is an indication of terrorist or insurgent activity,” said the report. So, what is the truth behind the shocking report?

First, it has been deliberately leaked at a time when relations between Pakistan and US intelligence agencies are facing severe tensions. It comes in the wake of the Raymond Davis episode, which soured cooperation between the two countries and the drone attack, which killed many innocent tribesmen. It is a part of a series of reports published in the Western media to target the Pakistani intelligence service, which is working to safeguard Pakistan’s territorial integrity and nuclear programme.

Second, following the report, questions have arisen if the US is really serious about working with Pakistan as a strategic partner in the war against terror. If this is the attitude of US authorities towards Pakistan, then one can fully understand that US support to Pakistan is not substantive, but rather flimsy and unconvincing.

Third, the report itself admits that the evidence about the so-called ISI support for the Taliban, while being frequent and detailed, was “unconfirmed and sometimes speculative”. In fact, the so-called evidence was totally fabricated by hostile intelligence agencies. What stops hostile foreign intelligence services from distributing loads of money and weapons among gullible Afghans, their officials claiming it is from the ISI?

Fourth, it has been alleged that the ISI has been coordinating and protecting insurgents fighting the coalition forces in Afghanistan, and even assisting al-Qaeda. If this is so, one wonders how top al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders have landed in US custody at the Guantanamo Bay without ISI’s support.

Fifth, several thousand Taliban, who otherwise would have been killing American and Nato troops in Afghanistan, have been eliminated by the Pakistan armed forces in Fata areas. In the process, Pakistan has lost thousands of its own troops. So, did Pakistan make these sacrifices in the war on terror to be labeled as a supporter of insurgents and al-Qaeda?

Finally, an advice for Pakistani politicians and pseudo intellectuals. ISI is a national asset, whose only objective is to safeguard Pakistan’s national interests. Please don’t join the league of Pakistan’s enemies in making undue criticism of national institutions.