Back in business

The war on terror which we remain caught up in, can only be won if there is cooperation between the two agencies.

The prime minister has said that the breakdown in relations between the CIA and the ISI, that he had conceded to in an interview with a US magazine just weeks ago, had now been patched over and cooperation had begun again. The development is a rather sudden one, given the deep breach that had developed. It had seemed it could take considerably longer to get things back in running order. This is, however, a welcome turn of events. The war on terror which we remain caught up in, and which has already claimed over 150 lives since the death of Osama bin Laden, can only be won if there is cooperation between the two agencies. At the end of the day, it must be acknowledged that both sides have from the very beginning been working together to defeat and drive out the Taliban and al Qaeda from this point of the world. A collapse in cooperation between the two would give the terrorists a boost and allow them to expand their hold over the tribal belt.

While, as in the Raymond Davis affair, there is reason to criticise the manner in which CIA agents have acted on our soil, the fact also is that US intelligence played a key role in ridding us of both Baitullah Mehsud and Osama bin Laden. Our country did not need them and their acts of evil. We are better off without them. Even more could be achieved if there is greater sharing of information and the building of a relationship of greater trust. It will take some time for this to happen, but it is clear from the prime minister’s comments that things are moving in the right direction. A CIA team has also been given access to the Abbottabad compound used by Bin Laden. Pakistan and the US have acted sensibly to ensure a patch-up; hectic exchanges between officials have been taking place at all levels to pave the way for this and to put other differences aside and focus on the need to work together to combat terrorism and all the terrible perils it brings, especially to our own country which has been the main victim of the Taliban and other groups affiliated with them.



Published in The Express Tribune, May 31^st, 2011.