In the ISI’s defence

NEW YORK: It was heartening to read General Asad Durrani’s defence of the ISI in his article “The invisible soldiers of Islam” (August 27). I think we as Pakistanis should at all times defend this vital institution, especially given that the WikiLeaks fiasco has given so much cannon-fodder to pseudo-analysts around the world to malign Pakistan.

Interestingly, the other day, former US department of defence stalwart Dov Zakheim’s blog stated that the ISI was not involved in abetting militants. What the ISI really needs though, is to keep a lid on conspiracy theorists that end up doing much harm and no good to Pakistan. One such individual is the former ISI chief Hameed Gul who sees a Jewish conspiracy in everything. Interestingly enough Mr Zakheim — who is now one of the most prominent intellectual voices defending the ISI — is himself an Orthodox Jew.

Taimur T Malik

Published in The Express Tribune, August 30^th, 2010.