Finally, after much give-and-take, the game is over between the ISI and the CIA.
LAHORE: Finally, after much give-and-take, the game is over between the ISI and the CIA. First the gainers: Raymond Davis, who got away with double murder; his family; the CIA and the US State Department; Pakistan’s Foreign Office, which was in a fix being unable to tow a particular line on the issue of immunity; the families of Faizan and Faheem, who got tens of millions of rupees and US visas; the ISI, whose chief got a one-year extension and the GHQ, which will now be getting US military assistance without any further delay. And now the losers: Shumaila, Faheem’s wife, who committed suicide. The ghairat brigade, which received a big slap on its face. The media, which played in the hands of the ‘powers that be’ and created hype in the name of ‘national honour’. The religious right, the JI and the PTI; and, finally, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who looked towards Aabpara rather than his own government for a policy stand. Now he stands nowhere.
Waseem Altaf
Published in The Express Tribune, March 19th, 2011.
