Intelligence reforms
Part-I
Maj. Gen (R) Mahmud Ali Durrani
We are once again passing through a national crisis where everything seems to be going wrong. The Abbottabad incident, the attack on the Mehran naval base in Karachi, the killing of a brave journalist and the cold-blooded murder of a young man in broad daylight by the Rangers are the latest manifestations of that crisis. The leadership is paralysed, the situation is alarming that it is a wakeup call for us to do something, besides merely talking about our problems.
It is an opportunity to take stock of the situation and move forward with determination, guided by well considered plans. It is only this approach which will help us face the growing multitude of challenges our nation is facing for so many years. Many individuals amongst our leading politicians, senior bureaucrats and military leaders have the capacity to develop the workable solutions required for Pakistan to emerge from its crisis.
If we do not subdue the militancy with determination, terrorism and militancy have the potential of destroying Pakistan from within. Before we even begin to fight the militancy on the scale required to contain and ultimately eliminate the menace, a truly effective intelligence network should be in place. And to be effective, our intelligence needs to move out of the past and be prepared to face the challenges of the future.
We should create a professional institution committed to serving the nation. It should be firmly under the control of the political leadership, and with parliamentary oversight.
Before we reform our intelligence, it is imperative that we define and understand the security challenges our nation is facing, both internal and external.
The second important step would be to tabulate the components of the existing intelligence network, including the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the Intelligence Bureau (IB), the Special Branch and the police, and understand their respective roles and structures.
Today the primary and immediate security threat to our national security is internal, in the form of the militancy. In the prevailing geopolitical environment around Pakistan our neighbours and global powers play important and often negative roles. Besides the primary threat of militancy, we face a number of external threats. Almost every time there is a linkage between the external and internal threat. Pakistan has to walk through this internal and external minefield, not only to survive but also to thrive as a nation.
It is not possible to give a comprehensive presentation on the threats being faced by our nation. But a proper threat analysis is critical to the development of a broader response and to reform our intelligence assets to face the security threats of the future.
There are a host of intelligence assets within our country but I will only focus on the major assets we possess and propose some corrective action. Let me clarify that my focus is purely on intelligence and not investigative assets, though most times there is a direct relationship between the two and many times major investigative agencies have their own intelligence assets.
The ISI is, of course, the best known of our intelligence as the super agency and many foreign analysts call it a state within a state. Others have rated it as the top agency in the world. Since the Abbottabad incident it has come under severe criticism both externally and internally. When established after independence, its primary role was in the area of defence – to develop the capacity to deal with the current and future military threats to Pakistan. In addition, the ISI conducts counterintelligence to protect our armed forces from hostile actions by foreign intelligence agencies. It is comparable to the Defence Intelligence (DIA) of the United States. The leadership of the ISI is provided by officers of the armed forces.
However, for a number of reasons, over the years the ISI has grown into the primary intelligence agency of Pakistan with an enviable reputation and a global role. There are a number of reasons for the phenomenal growth of the ISI. The basic reason is the trust that the military rulers of Pakistan have had in the ISI. In fact, an effort was made by the military rulers to militarise the IB. I recollect the appointment of Gen Agha Neik as the head of the IB by Gen Ziaul Haq. Because of the efficiency of the ISI, even civilian rulers placed greater reliance on the ISI. Surprisingly, a popular civilian leader gave the role of political espionage to the ISI.
In the undeclared war to defeat the Soviet forces in Afghanistan after their invasion of the country in December 1979, the ISI played a successful and pivotal role in dealing with the Afghan crisis in accordance with Pakistan’s national interests. However, many analysts in Pakistan today feel that our participation in this war was a grievous error. The war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan gave a major impetus to the growth of the ISI. As a result of that, the ISI has now become the CIA of Pakistan. The director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence reports directly to the prime minister of Pakistan.
The second important intelligence agency at the federal level is the Intelligence Bureau. The IB generally receives its leadership from the police, although a number of army officers headed it from time to time since 1980s. The IB is the oldest and the only federal intelligence agency Pakistan inherited on its creation. Its roots are believed to go back to the 19th century when the British tasked it to collect intelligence for operations against highway robbers known as thugs.
The IB still feels akin to MI5 and MI6 of the British intelligence system. Unfortunately, as the ISI grew in stature, the role of the IB diminished. Today the IB is a junior partner to the ISI. However, even though its external operations were curtailed, the IB still has a fairly broad role in national security. I feel these external operations need to be restored. The IB’s director general also reports directly to the prime minister.
To be continued
The writer is a former national security adviser.