This makes you wonder what our now-former-ambassador Husain Haqqani was doing talking to him. Haqqani seems reasonably intelligent. At the very least, the memo that Ijaz claims is his, seems too poorly written to have come from his desk. If it did indeed originate there though, it makes sense. In the wake of the Abbottabad Incident, the army was capable of doing anything to save face. If you tell someone standing knee-deep in filth of their own making that they might drown, their instinctive reaction will be to grab something to hold on to. In the past, that’s been the reins of power. So for the civilian government to worry is understandable. To blame them would be like blaming a victim of domestic abuse for shielding her face the next time her punch-drunk husband raises his hand. So why would an intelligent man like Haqqani entrust the message to the recipient of the lifetime achievement award for Flip-flopping. Perhaps, Haqqani is just a poor judge of character. He is, after all, also a close friend of President Zardari’s. It happens to the best of us.
So what now? The ambassador has gracefully resigned, under pressure from the military leadership. The same leadership that didn’t resign when Bin Laden was found sharing blankets with them and was killed by a Seal taskforce that snuck into our country despite us giving them everything short of our teeth fillings so they can guarantee the sanctity of our borders. The next ambassador will, no doubt, be more compliant as will the civilian government come next election. America has also, perhaps, proven that it has the best interests of our military at heart by confirming the existence of the memo, thus guaranteeing a better working arrangement. Maybe there are more memos being held hostage?
All that’s left to ask is what Mansoor Ijaz thinks of all this. And then instantly putting stock in the opposite.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 24th, 2011.
COMMENTS (33)
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@FactChek: None of what you say precludes the fact that Mansoor Ijaz's source of funds and influence is murky at best.
Ghulam Nabi Fai also had connections like those that you mention. Fai was a naturalized US citizen. Ijaz is a US citizen by birth, but then so was David Headley (aka Dawood Gilani). * Ijaz's company has no internet presence and is not even registered as a hedge fund, which he claims to run. * Abrahamson's role in Crescent is not confirmed by Abrahamson or any other source. Ijaz has claimed that Abrahamson is "involved" in his company, but has never clarified what this involvement is. * Ijaz is also the only one to claim that he has ties to Woolsey, but never clarified what these "ties" are. Woolsey has never confirmed any ties to Ijaz.
All of this indicates that Ijaz is being propped up, with vague associations to make him seem credible.
Pakistan Army can safely claim the Haqqani network has been dismantled. The only issue is that this Haqqani network was based in Washington DC not North Waziristan.
where r my comments?
Mrs Haqqani is threatening to sue Mansoor Ijaz, whats holding her back? Mansoor Ijaz will sue anyone who in Pak court or in any court anywhere if they accuse him of 'shady' dealings without proof, on a TV chat show he said all such will open themselves to a 'kick on butt' by him. All presidential and prime ministerial actions seem geared towards saving butts. Mansoor Ijaz was used to convey message, or memo, for two reasons: 1. The message would be guaranteed to get where it was meant to. 2. If the things went wrong, as they sure have, denial would be easier with Mansoor Ijaz involved, his background of an upstart would open him for further character assassination, which is being fully indulged in.
The prime minister said in parliament his own contacts and Haqqani's in US were such they did not need Mansoor Ijaz to convey message. Why has Haqqani resigined if this is so? Is he taking the rap for someone? Who is that someone? Is he in GHQ or, more likely, two different butts in two different palaces in same city have to be 'saved' from the kick.
this is ridiculius 2 say that army was standing in filth n it would v topple the govt. the abottabad incident may b done by the approvel of this govt 2 bcum apple of america. if u do this kind of adventure keeping army in dark than what do u xpect. on 1 hand u v politions who can just sell their country 2 get a kiss of america n on the other hand we v army who atleast has sum sham n grace. democracy is not as sacred as QURAN . its human idea which can b wrong. its wrong 2 bear horrific ppl in name of democracy. i would luv 2 live in a prosperous n dignified country under a dictator rule rather than 2 live in utter poverty with shameless morons ruling me.
The sooner we, including our opinionmakers, realise that the stakes are much bigger then a mere tussle of ascendency between the Army and the Civillians, the better for all of us. Get over this tunnel vision syndrome and look at the bigger mosaic of what the US is working at as far as our future is concerned. Things will fall in place when you do that.
@You Said It:
You cannot because:
Mansoor Ijaz (born 1961) is an American businessman of Pakistani ancestry. He is an investment banker and media commentator, mostly in relation to Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan. He is the founder and chairman of Crescent Investment Management LLC, a New York investment partnership since 1990 that includes retired General James Alan Abrahamson, former director of President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative. Ijaz has had ties to former CIA Director James Woolsey. Ijaz is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Ijaz is not a Pkistani, he plays one on TV!
Most intelligent question asked in this case. Ijaz is a fake always trying to promote himself. He is not even a Pakistani Citizen, his father and mother are.
He is just taking undue advantage of his heritage for nothing but self promotion. Ms. Rehman should ban him from the embassy and promulgate very strict order to restrain all embassy staff not to associate with him and should not attend any function where this leech may be present.
He took down a decent human being.
@truth finder I agree. Whatever issues we may have with our army and ISI, that's our own internal matter. If Zardari just wanted Mullen to warn against a military takeover, that would've been fine, but it's no business of another country (a hostile one at that) to appoint panel members investigating sensitive matters, eliciting "carte blanches" to intervene to get rid of terrorists on our soil when they've failed at doing the same on their side of the border, sticking its nose into our nuke program and restructuring our intel agencies.
Good article and points well taken. I am still at a loss as to why we need political appointees for our ambassadorial offices. Why isn't anyone questioning the need to de-politicize these offices? Has anyone wondered if a bona fide diplomat had been in Washington matters could have been quelled before becoming a jarring embarrassment for everyone concerned. I keep hearing of change and how voting for a certain captain will ensure transparency, good governance and retribution for culpable politicians. Needless to say - been there, done that. I believe that a government is a reflection of the people it represents and from where I am sitting the picture looks pretty dismal. If we all acquiesce and accept the deformities of our system, no matter who comes to power the system will never change.
@Miura this is exactly wat i am sayin.i m quite disappointed by lookin at the comments. we talk such things abt our country and its sensitive institutions as if we are talking abt our own enemy. we should promote nationalism through realistically assessin wt is happenin with us and who is doin it. commentin as if we knw alot while we dont knw $%^#$ isnt goin to do us good
@truth finder - yes definitely. its the indians and americans ruining us. not the fact that we are largely uneducated, not the religious extremism, not the lack of spending on civilian infrastructure, not the poor hygiene throughout the country, not the hijacking of democracy and democratic institutions, not the bombing by our own people, not the killing of each other by political party members, not the lack of rule of law, not the lack of a meritocratic system, and certainly not the lack of acceptance for ourselves and our failures. Also - I am against the blasphemy law. Does that make me an American or Indian agent?
"In the wake of the Abbottabad Incident, the army was capable of doing anything to save face. If you tell someone standing knee-deep in filth of their own making that they might drown, their instinctive reaction will be to grab something to hold on to. In the past, that’s been the reins of power. So for the civilian government to worry is understandable. To blame them would be like blaming a victim of domestic abuse for shielding her face the next time her punch-drunk husband raises his hand."
Look if Zardari just wanted Mullen to warn Kayani against taking over it would have been a no biggie. What made the memo a big issue was the bullet points that memo contained. Read those points carefully because no sovereign state can allow what they said, notwithstanding however sinister the army may be.
@sami shah. mansoor ijaz is surely an agent workin for the US. why would a patriotic Pakistani create problems for his own soil while there is so much prpopaganda already goin around. one should guage a certain matter by looking at who is benefitting from the results. sherry rehman has been pro indian/american. she had followed dictates proveviously by the americans which is obvious from her stance on the blasphemy issue which led to her resignation due to the fear of being banged by the religious circles who frankly speaking has still a considerable amount of street power. the other thing is that blaming army/int agencies wont do us any good. no one knws wt actually happened in the OBL affair for sure. being head of strategic orgs has its own +- n everybody tries to do sth good for the country but still &^%& happens some time. the current regional environment has strangled us as a nation in many ways. not only army, isi, politicians but every one is bein affected. wt we shud do is to unite against our enemies instead of cribbing all day long. People wake up. the indians/americans r ruining us !
Does Saleem Shehzad ring a bell? List of civilian casualties at the hands of those who swear allegiance to serve and protect is unending. Hussain Haqqani stands tall in a army of pygmies. Well said Sami, another well written gem.
Why would you diss the memo's writing style, bhai? I thought it was a legitimate piece of literature quite honestly.
Now the Pakistanis should realise who in fact owns Pakistan. After knowing that fight against the establishment which is well entrenched, the general public must fight against this without fearing that it is a 'loosing cause'. Poor public does not have any winning cause, so this loosing cause is one which should be fought with all available resources. Survival of Pakistan lies by raising the questions in unison by all, mentioned by Sami in his well articulated column.
Mansoor Ijaz needs to be investigated, particularly the source of his funds and wealth. It wouldn't be surprising if the turns out to be another Ghulam Nabi Fai.
Haqqani has resigned for being involved in writing a 'controversial' memo. But ISI chief will not resign if the world's most wanted man, Osama B L, is found in Kakul Academy! The Naval Chief will not resign even if the whole navy is destroyed in Karsaz Attack and the Chief of Army will not resign even the US commondoes operated in the heart of Baluch regiment in Abbottabad and while our protectors of frontier were sleeping!
"So is he someone being employed by the ISI to keep contacts with the White House? Or is he one of those people the CIA and the State Department use to ‘leak’ information or plant stories that help them achieve deeper goals?"
The author's questions are very deep and goes to the heart of who Mansoor Ijaz is. I think the answer is that Ijaz is, in all likelihood' an ISI double agent who has got the CIA and State Department fooled by getting them to trust him.
Just see what's happening in Egypt today - Civis made of different matti :((
good comment sami, and worth pondering...
Pakistani Mir Jafers and Mir Sadiqs who have been in bed with the worst terrorists of the world should be un-masked and tried in the World Court of Justice for crimes. They cannot be tried in Pakistan no matter what the nature of crimes or treasons are. The terrorists and their friends are the real enemies of innocent Pakistani civilians and killing them by thousands.
How convenient to see this government as a victim! Pakistanis know that as far as they are concerned, these people are not victims as much as they are wilful perpetrators of extensive corruption and plunder.
It's ironic to see pseudo-liberals blame 'others', foreign or local, for the faults of powerful and corrupt leaders, and yet they never hesitate to ridicule those people in our society who blame 'foreign' powers for their problems instead of taking responsibility for their mistakes.
Such leaders haven't failed to deliver, they never really intended to. And you call them victims?!
Yea. He is like a 'naked' CDS which you sell to an investor and bet against it at the same time.
I think this is a set-up/sting. You hint at that too.
Sadly, we will never know. There will be an "investigation" for sure and then the report will be a master-piece of a cover-up, full of disinformation, lies, obfuscation, half-truths and red-herrings.
Hell, we can't even tell the truth when a plane smashes into the hills in the nations capital and a hundred and sixty odd poor and simple souls get killed. We can't even meet our signed obligations to ICAO. They should throw us out.
A brilliant Op Ed, I appreciate your honesty and neutrality. With that kind of shady and shifty character of Mansoor Ijaz who has been demanding ISI to be labelled a terrorist organization, why would Gen Pasha go and meet him in person on public expense? The sad thing is for establishment and their touts Ms. Khar is acceptable but HH was not. By choosing SR, PPP govt has beat the establishment in its own game. SR is far more experienced and mature than Khar in every sense of the word. Thanks again and regards, Mirza
We do not know the truth, although what you write makes sense. But Pakistan being Pakistan, we should not be surprised if wrong conclutions are drawn from factsl. As I see it, the history of pakistan is dictated by you know who and after every few years after the government is working, that dark devil wants to create the perception that civilians are incompetent, dishonest to make inroads from Pindi To Islao. Truth hardly matters here. WE like to believe that Thou shalt not bear false witness. Tell the truth, and shame the Devil. Transparency, management-speak for honesty, is put forward as the answer to most of today’s ills. But the truth of the matter—honestly—is that this would lead to disaster, for lying is at the heart of many civilizations. Pakistan is one major player in that. Many think piety is limited to praying regularly and then go on with the world affairs like it suits us. Some things never change. Even those past leaders ditched and jailed join the bandwagon and blame the civilians and not the real culprit. Only a few days ago I wrote a comment in Tribune that if Haqanni must go, must be replaced by someone like Sherry Rehman. I wish I had added an other wish to win millions in. lottery.
Mir Jafer and Mir Sadiq and Nawab e Hyderabad and so on u name it its a long list of Modrates who saved india from foriegn forces....
"The ambassador has gracefully resigned, under pressure from the military leadership. The same leadership that didn’t resign when Bin Laden was found sharing blankets with them and was killed by a Seal taskforce that snuck into our country despite us giving them everything short of our teeth fillings so they can guarantee the sanctity of our borders."
Exactly. Why is no one talking about that?