Raymond Davis and the CIA

Letter February 21, 2011
A revelation in the book Obama's Wars clearly suggests that CIA operators have entered Pakistan with consent.

KARACHI: This is with reference to reports in your as well other newspapers, quoting a British newspaper as confirming that Raymond Davis works for the CIA. In fact, this could probably be determined by way of anecdotal evidence, from a reading of Chapter 24 of Bob Woodward’s book Obama’s Wars. He writes that US President Barack Obama sent his national security adviser, General James L Jones, and deputy national security adviser on counterterrorism and homeland security, John O Brennan, to meet President Asif Ali Zardari on November 11, 2009. During the meeting, the president was told by the American visitors that both Pakistan and America needed to find new and better ways to work together to disrupt the Lashkar-e-Taiba’s ability to plan attacks. Towards the end of November 2009, CIA Director Leon Panetta visited Pakistan and told his Pakistani interlocutors that there was a need for “joint ISI-CIA operations on the ground”. On January 18 of 2010, a request for 36 visas for CIA staff was approved, Mr Woodward writes, and on April 19, 2010, the deputy director of the agency asked for 10 more visas.

This revelation in the book, which has been around for some time, clearly suggests that many CIA operators have entered Pakistan with the consent of the government of Pakistan. If this indeed is the case, the government should share this information with the people of Pakistan.

Lt-col (retd) Muhammad Ali Ehsan

Published in The Express Tribune, February 22nd, 2011.