There could be good news
in the struggle against the Taliban. Today’s revelation that Pakistan’s Army
Chief of Staff recommended LT General Ahmad Shuja Pasha remain as head of the
Inter Service Intelligence Agency (ISI) could bode well for the war against al
Qaeda and the Taliban, could being the operant term.
In the history of the ISI
since its founding, curiously be an Australian-born British Army officer, the
agency has naturally supported the overall aims of the Pakistani government as
long as those aims were also in the best interest of the Pakistani Army. The ISI has notoriously gone their
particular way on many occasions following a distinctly crafted agenda. The
agenda tends to ensure some amount of chaos and defensiveness on the part of
Pakistan’s most threatening neighbors. The main target has always been India.
The conflict with that country gave birth to the ISI.
The ISI is a similar
organization to the CIA and they share some common experiences in that region.
Both the ISI and the CIA supported the Mujahideen against the Soviets after the
1979 invasion. They have both supported groups in the area that they now no
longer control. As to control, the civilian government likely exercises little
control over the Army and subsequently the ISI. The fact that the ISI and the
Army are now in the Taliban killin’ b’ness (apologies to Brad Pitt) and that
b’ness is good is not a reflection of a civilian mandate but is a reflection on
how threatened and pressured the military feels with the blatant expansion of
Taliban influence in the Tribal areas. An area that is normally very resistant
to government control. ISI action now to arrest Taliban leaders and squeeze the
Taliban in the Tribal areas is in the interest of both Pakistan and the United
States. The Army, the ISI, sanction these actions and LT General Pasha
continues to facilitate them. Another year at this rate is a good thing and the
U. S. must continue to support this action and take steps to ensure the ISI
does not go off the rails. As long as Pakistan’s military apparatus is busy
with the Taliban, they will make less mischief with their Indian neighbor and
hopefully become a better neighbor for Afghanistan.
ISI
http://www.fas.org/irp/world/pakistan/isi/
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