Agency divide

There are too many secrets and the Davis affair, now with the ISI-CIA tussle, appears to be adding to these.

The ISI is reported to have reduced its level of cooperation with the CIA, apparently because it is peeved that it was not kept informed about the presence of Raymond Davis, as a CIA operative, in the country and is therefore less willing than before to work with the US outfit. One wonders what has determined the ISI approach given that it is unlikely that it would not have known the exact number of such agents allowed to operate in the country, particularly since their presence was approved by the previous regime of General Pervez Musharraf. Having said that, the Pakistan government is suggesting that it did not know the full extent of Raymond Davis’s activities in Pakistan and, if this is correct, then it suggests a clear lack of trust and/or communication between the Pakistani and American intelligence agencies. We would have thought each side would have kept the other informed about its activities in their country — or that, if it chose not to, the ISI, would be able to keep track of agents from foreign countries working in its midst. There are, of course, a number of rumours surrounding the incident — but we do not quite know the truth.

We, as citizens, have the right to know what happened and to be kept in the picture about what is going on. Parliament must, for this reason, be brought into the frame and should be briefed on the agreements that were signed with foreign nations allowing intelligence-sharing and reportedly even foreign intelligence assets on the ground in Pakistan. The point is not at all to pander to the isolationist right-wing lobby but rather to make a case for greater transparency in such matters. Had that been the case, perhaps, the Raymond Davis case would not have even happened, or it would have been resolved in a reasonable amount of time. There are too many secrets and the Davis affair, with all its hidden facets and now the ISI-CIA tussle, appears to be adding to these while also creating a wave of unrest that has badly upset the political equilibrium in the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 26^th, 2011.