Spy agencies and the truth

KARACHI: This is with reference to the meeting between the US and Pakistan spy chiefs in Washington, on April 12. The statement issued by the CIA after the meeting said that “the relationship between the CIA and the ISI remains on solid footing”. But the real question is: How true is this statement?

In the world of spies and intelligence agencies, things are hardly ever what they appear to be. So the public statement from the CIA may not reflect the actual outcome of the meeting. What speaks volumes about the meeting and what transpired between the two spy masters is that the official trip by General Pasha was cut from three days, as originally planned, to one.

One should also bear in mind that in the spying world, the truth is hardly ever spoken, least of all between two spy chiefs. But if it were, and that may well have been the case, one would expect that the consequences of such a blunt and straightforward exchange would hardly be salutary. It may well be the case, as has been reported in several newspapers quoting Pakistani officials, that the CIA has been told that Pakistan would like the ground rules changed.

Let us all be reassured that, were it not for our nuclear capability and a very well-trained, organised and professional army, we would not be in a position to dictate terms to the US in this matter. If nothing else, it will become extremely difficult for the CIA to place agents and develop resources in Pakistan. This may also mean that the independence enjoyed by the CIA’s undercover teams, moving around in the country with considerable liberty, may come to an end.

However, we should not lose sight of the fact that we are rightly called the world’s most dangerous country. That said, the dangerous situation we live in has everything to do with how the US perceived ‘threats’ in our region and how it chose to respond to these threats.

Lt-col (r) Muhammad Ali Ehsan

Published in The Express Tribune, April 14^th, 2011.