Pakistan -- Intelligence Gone Mad

Pakistan military on alert at a security post in Islamabad

August 7, 2008: Pakistan has a big problem, and it's not with the Taliban. Their intelligence agency, the ISI, has rebelled, and refused to take orders from the government. How can this be? Simple, the ISI has, over the last three decades, become the effective tool of the government in dealing with troublemakers, and keeping top politicians informed on who is doing what to who. But the ISI is part of the military, and is full of Islamic conservatives, and men who sympathize with the Taliban and al Qaeda. The ISI also has files on the misbehavior of politicians and senior military men. The free press in Pakistan loves to lap up leaks from ISI.

The recently elected government tried to bring ISI to heel, then backed off when reminded of just what kind of power this intelligence community had. But the government is caught in a worsening situation. The four years of peace negotiations with India are jeopardized by continued ISI interference. For example, the terror bombing of the India embassy in Afghanistan last month was traced back to ISI by the American CIA, and Indian intelligence. In this case, both went public with their findings, because in the past, private briefings with Pakistani leaders brought apologies, and no action. This time, there are denunciations (of the accusations), and promises to clean out the ISI. That won't be easy. The Pakistani military, including the ISI, is a wealthy organization that sees itself as separate from the rest of the country. A military caste, if you will, which is why the military has, since the country was founded in 1947, periodically denounced the corruption and ineptness of the elected politicians, and taken over the government. The generals have proved no more capable of dealing with the country's problems (mainly corruption and a distinct lack of civic virtue). The military looks after itself first, and is unwilling to let the ISI be destroyed.

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My Comment: readers of this blog know that I have been critical of Pakistan's ISI Organization for a very long time. Kudos to the "Strategy Page" for summarizing the current situation in a neat and well written post.