ISI is under nobody’s control and always keeps its hand in politics, says Mansoor Ijaz

– ISI always keeps its hand in politics: Ijaz

The S Branch of the ISI was involved in manipulating elections in Pakistan: Mansoor Ijaz

ISLAMABAD: The principal character in the memogate scandal, Mansoor Ijaz, has said that Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is under nobody’s control and always keeps its hand in politics.

In an interview with CNN host Fareed Zakaria, Mr Ijaz said: “The ISI has two critical branches in it. One is called CT, for counter-terrorism, and the other one is called S Branch for strategic —it’s sort of the arm of the ISI that does everything from political interventions in other countries, for example, Afghanistan, which is what they’re doing through the Haqqani network and the Taliban right now.”

He said the ISI was an organ of the state that nobody could control. “And it is essentially the organ of the state that the army and the intelligence wings are using to, shall we say, coordinate or obstruct what it is that the political side of the government, the civilian side of the governments do in Pakistan,” he said.

Mr Ijaz said the ISI does a lot of political interventions in its own country as it has been reported in the past by Pakistani press that S Branch was involved in manipulating elections and doing things of that nature inside Pakistan.

“Now, there have been so many wrong things that have happened since the death of Bin Laden in the early part of May, so many things that indicated some hidden hand, if you will, in what was going on,” Mr Ijaz said.

Mansoor Ijaz, who claimed himself a ‘messenger’ for a memo from Pakistan’s civilian government to the Pentagon asking Washington to clamp down on Pakistan’s military, said he had been involved in different operations in Pakistan now for a very long time. However, he did not mention that what kind of operations these were. ….

Read more » DAWN.COM

The Case of a Curious Memo

PTH is proud to publish this exclusive piece written by Ali Aftab Saeed (who made his mark as the creator of the famed Aalu Anday song by the beghayrat brigade band). Ali is remarkable for his clarity on progressive politics and he dispels the myth that Pakistan’s youth have been brainwashed by right wing media and doctored history textbooks. All power to him and hundreds of thousands like Ali – who need a voice. PTH is a platform where we value the energy and creativity of Pakistan’s youth which will define our future and heal this bruised country. Raza Rumi

Let’s start with a simple thought, why does one write a letter to someone? Clench that answer in your mind and now ponder on why the President of Pakistan would write a letter when he has Husain Haqqani for lobbying his message directly. I mean, that puts us to question the job of the diplomat in the first place.

This is not the first attempt to alienate the army and Zardari. This cannot just be a coincidence that every time these sort of attempts are made or controversies are created including this one, Zardari and Kiyani have a meeting, they resolve all these rumors and move ahead diplomatically. No exceptions will be made this time. Besides, Kiyani doesn’t have a lot options to play along either primarily because he is on extension not to mention the growing popular antagonism of the army officers he has to face. Secondly, the PML-N is ruthless on army these days, that is why the Public Accounts Committee is asking for a representative from the army to give explanations for NLC scandal and justifications of how was railway owned property sold to a private country club, Royal Palm? All the land which the army had docketed as A Class commercial and sold is being asked to be recovered. This coupled with PML-N’s unwavering demand to form a Committee on the Abbottabad incident and PNS Mehran adds to Kiyani’s precarious disposition. ….

Read more » PAK TEA HOUSE

Pakistan’s Spy Agency and Terrorism

– Mansoor Ijaz says the real danger inside Pakistan is its powerful spy organization, Inter-Services Intelligence — and that an even more notorious outfit is an ISI-affiliate called S-Wing. …

Read more » THE DAILY BEAST

Memogate – WHEN reality is so distorted, how does the record get set straight?

A sceptic’s guide to memogate

By Cyril Almeida

Excerpt;

WHEN reality is so distorted, how does the record get set straight?

Memogate — the alleged plea by Husain Haqqani/Asif Zardari to save the civilian government from an army coup after May 2 in return for sacking military principals and disbanding a shadowy cell of the ISI that manages links to militant groups — was less startling than preposterous.

While this is Pakistan and anything is possible, some things are still more possible than others. …

… Perhaps the most puzzling aspect of memogate is Mike Mullen`s denial and then clarification of his denial and an outright admission.

We`re talking here about an administration that doesn`t officially acknowledge drone strikes or the 14-page memo Kayani handed Obama. That a recently retired top-ranking officer will through a spokesperson speak on the record to a reporter about such stuff is, quite frankly, astonishing.

Sure, Mullen denied he acted on the memo or that he took it seriously, but this two-term chairman of the joints chiefs of staff knows the media worldwide, even the Pakistani media, enough to be aware of his statement`s implications for Haqqani and the media pressure it would pile on Zardari in an already lopsided civil-military relationship that the Americans presumably have some interest in rectifying.

So yes, memogate is finally genuinely intriguing. Not because it implies games are afoot inside Pakistan, which they always are, but because Mullen has seen it fit to throw Haqqani, and possibly Zardari, under the bus.

It`s a tantalising question, based admittedly on flimsy evidence, but have the Americans soured on Zardari?

Read more » DAWN.COM

Husain Haqqani Shaheed, Nishan e Haider

by Hakim Hazik

To, President Asif Ali Zardari

President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan

And,

Field Martial Avatar P Kayani, The Supreme Leader, In-charge S Wing

Father of the Nation

Through the Good Offices of,

Mr Mansoor Ijaz,

Interlocutor to Admiral Mullen, President Obama and God.

Dear Sirs,

Please find enclosed my resignation from the post of the ambassador in Washington. I have submitted it simultaneously to the FO, the YouTube and the Twitter.

Your Excellencies,

Much has been made of my alleged memorandum to Admiral Mullen regarding the S-Wing. I want to make it clear that I have no recollection of ever sending it and as the world media now knows, the respected Admiral has no memory of receiving it. However, I realize that there are times in the life of nations when hard decisions have to be made for the greater good of the gentle souls in hobnailed boots which are only occasionally applied on the presidential posteriors.

The least I can do to save the posterior that I hold dear, more than any other in the world (my own) is to tender my resignation. This, I hope, will clear the air and will allow both nations to get on wholeheartedly with the most important task at hand, which may otherwise have been neglected, that of slaughtering the Afghans.

We need to realize that the administration of both countries are swimming against national tides. I know that the average American wants to eviscerate the average Pakistani and the average Pakistani wants to behead the average American. The people who hold the levers of power should do their best to facilitate this mutual enactment of national ideals whilst never losing sight of the ultimate goal of pulverizing Afghanistan, the policy objective that the both strategic allies strongly support.

At this juncture, I must pay tribute to Mr Mansoor Ijaz whose selfless devotion to international statecraft is unsurpassed in the modern history and matched only by the likes of Metternich, Kissinger and Raymond Davis.

Armed with a clear sense of destiny and a BlackBerry Bold 9900TM, he has served both the great nations and changed the course of world history. When the future historian (Yours Truly) writes an account of these momentous events, in the fullness of time (next week), he will not fail to note the sagacity, perspicacity and strength of character, that drove this intrepid servant of soft strategic depth to undertake amazing acts of valour at great personal risk.

Dear Field Marshall,

I owe you a personal debt of gratitude that you have been gracious in sparing my gonads, the attention of your forthright and patriotic hobnailed boots. I will never forget this act of kindness and am very grateful for not having to join the misguided and foolish cohort of petty pen-pushers such as Hayat Ullah Khan and Syed Salim Shehzad. I will try and repay this benevolence as soon as I have sold the 1st millionth copy of my memoirs.

Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.

Husain Haqqani, Embassy of Pakistan,

Washington, DC 20008

Courtesy » ViewPoint

http://www.viewpointonline.net/husain-haqqani-shaheed-nishan-e-haider.html