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LET ISI COMMAND AFGHANISTAN

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PROFESSOR ALI SUKHANVER

For the last many years this prediction is selling very hot thatPakistanis going to be no more on the world map in the near future. But every yearPakistanis always there, giving a tough time to all those who are dreaming ofPakistanchanging into a waste land.Pakistanhas become the centre of all concentration in a very short period of time. This matchless importance is simply because of the fact that the world around us has accepted the reality that Pakistanis have an exemplary ability of sailing in troubled waters. They can achieve any target if they are determined. Suicide bombs, targeted killings, drone attacks and even the propaganda assaults; nothing can dampen their tenacity, valor and resolve to survive. In spite of whole-sale bloodshed at the hands of terrorists, the life is still going on with full whim and urge in the streets ofPakistan. Here and there, everywhere, one can find the worst examples of brutality and cruelty on the part of the terrorists but the brave people ofPakistanare neither frightened nor scared.

 

Recently the international conspirators have designed a new propaganda war againstPakistanby dragging the ISI, the most sacred security institution ofPakistan, into a blame game. The game started with the statement made by Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff before the Senate Armed Services Committee. The worthy admiral accusedPakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency of having close relationship with the militant Haqqani network which is active inAfghanistansince long. According to the Los Angeles Times, Mullen called the Haqqani group “a veritable arm of the ISI,” The Admiral also said that ISI helped Haqqani militants during attacks on theU.S.embassy inKabulon Sept. 13 as well as a truck bomb blast in Wardak province that injured 77 American troops. The blunt charges of collusion between ISI and Haqqani network have raised a wave of anger and indignation againstUSAthroughoutPakistan. Pakistani officials have warned theUSauthorities thatPakistancould say good-bye to theUnited Statesas an ally if American officials continue to accuseIslamabad’s intelligence agency of assisting the Haqqani group. According to the media reports, the recent propaganda move against ISI has been designed to increase pressure ontoPakistanto take action against Haqqani elements allegedly residing inNorth Waziristan. The fact of the matter is that the Haqqani group is a part and parcel of the Taliban who claim to strive for the liberation ofAfghanistanfrom the cruel clutches of the foreign invaders. The Taliban andPakistandon’t have very friendly relationship because the Taliban think thatPakistanis a supporter and facilitator of theUSactivities and actions inAfghanistan. They are of the opinion that US forces could have never been able to spend such a long time inAfghanistanifPakistanhad not given them a helping hand. In such a hostile situation how is it possible forPakistanto aid and assist a group which is undoubtedly an integral part of the Taliban movement? Before accusingPakistanof sheltering the Haqqani network and before demanding stern action against this group in North Waziristan, theUSauthorities must cast a look at the statement of Sirajuddin Haqqani which he made a few days back. The leader of the Haqqani group said, “Gone are the days when we were hiding in the mountains along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Now we consider ourselves more secure inAfghanistanwhere the Afghan people and senior military and police officials are with us.” Allegations on ISI regarding Haqqani group are simply the part of the same blame game which has been in vogue since long. Sometimes it is the presence of Osama Bin Laden in Abotabad and sometimes it is Al-Qaeda’s Aymen-ul-Zawahiri, sometimes the Quetta Shura and sometimes the nuclear assets ofPakistan; the Americans are always searching for an opportunity which they may exploit for increasing pressure onPakistan.

 

 

Even a man with no brains can find close similarities between the recent concocted story of attack on the USembassy in Afghanistanand brutal killing of Professor Burhan-ud-Din Rabbani. The USAis simply trying to distort the situation in Afghanistanas the dates of its getting out of the Afghan land are coming closer. At present the USAis in a strange situation of ‘to be and not to be’. It is surely against the USinterests to leave Afghanistanhanding it over to the Taliban. This action would on one hand bring a bad name to the whole of the American nation and on the other hand it would prove the superiority and supremacy of the Taliban. It is something very much alarming that in presence of thousands of well-equipped well trained NATO fighters, the Haqqani group is so powerful that it changed the USembassy and the NATO head quarter into debris; what would be the scenario after the NATO forces leave the place. The New York Times commented the situation in a very alarming tone. “Heavily armed insurgents wearing suicide vests struck Tuesday at two of the most prominent symbols of the American diplomatic and military presence in Kabul, the United States Embassy and the nearby NATO headquarters, demonstrating the Taliban’s ability to infiltrate even the most heavily fortified districts of the capital. With the Obama administration facing mounting budget problems and having fixed a timetable to withdraw most forces by 2014, the assault also appeared to signal Taliban resolve to battle Western forces to the hour of their exit. A Western official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the attack made the talk of a peace deal with the Taliban seem absurd.”  If the attacks on the United States Embassy and the nearby NATO headquarters were a joint venture of the ISI and the Haqqani group, theUS military officials must simply resign from their services accepting their inability and inefficiency leading to such an insulting defeat. They must simply hand over all control and command to the ISI and the Haqqani group because these two have proved themselves superior to the NATO forces as well as to theUS troops.

 The writer is a Pakistan based analyst on defence and strategic affairs.

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