09-18-2008, 09:37 PM
Editorial: Reform <b>ISI? Not like this</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs<b>, Mr Richard Boucher, said Tuesday that Pakistanâs Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) needed to be reformed. He did not point to any specific flaw in the conduct of the ISI but the general impression is that his remark sprang from a deep US suspicion that the ISI âretained links to the Talibanâ.</b>
The initial reaction against the suggestion has been negative in the Pakistani media, and it was of a piece with the reaction that met Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilaniâs attempt in July to place the ISI under the control of the Interior Ministry.
The American press had charged earlier that the ISI was allegedly using the privileged information it had about American attacks against the Afghan Taliban to forewarn the latter. In fact, the American government and most Western governments believe that a recent suicide-bombing at the Indian embassy in Kabul was carried out by the ISI. In India, the case is even worse; the ISI is blamed for anything violent that happens inside India which the Indian government cannot explain.
.............<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The initial reaction against the suggestion has been negative in the Pakistani media, and it was of a piece with the reaction that met Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilaniâs attempt in July to place the ISI under the control of the Interior Ministry.
The American press had charged earlier that the ISI was allegedly using the privileged information it had about American attacks against the Afghan Taliban to forewarn the latter. In fact, the American government and most Western governments believe that a recent suicide-bombing at the Indian embassy in Kabul was carried out by the ISI. In India, the case is even worse; the ISI is blamed for anything violent that happens inside India which the Indian government cannot explain.
.............<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->