Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate: Covert Action and Internal Operations

328 Pages·2016·5.28 MB·English

by  Owen L. Sirrs

Pakistan’s Inter- Services
Intelligence Directorate
This book is the first comprehensive study of Pakistan’s Inter- Services Intelli-
gence Directorate (ISI).
The rise of Pakistan- backed religious extremist groups in Afghanistan,
India and Central Asia has focused international attention on
Pakistan’s premier intelligence organization and covert action advocate, the
Inter- Services Intelligence Directorate or ISI. While ISI is regarded as one of
the most powerful government agencies in Pakistan today, surprisingly little
has been written about it from an academic perspective. This book addresses
critical gaps in our understanding of this agency, including its domestic
security mission, covert backing of the Afghan Taliban, and its links to al-
Qa’ida. Using primary source materials, including declassified intelligence and
diplomatic reporting, press reports and memoirs, this book explores how ISI
was transformed from a small, negligible counter intelligence outfit of the
late- 1940s into the national security behemoth of today with extensive
responsibilities in domestic security, political interference and covert action.
This study concludes that reforming or even eliminating ISI will be funda-
mental if Pakistan is to successfully transition from an army- run, national
security state to a stable, democratic society that enjoys peaceful relations with
its neighbors.
This book will be of interest to students of intelligence studies, South
Asian politics, foreign policy and international security in general.
Owen L. Sirrs is Adjunct Professor at the University of Montana, USA, and
the author of two previous books, including, most recently, The Egyptian
Intelligence Service (Routledge 2011).
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Pakistan’s Inter- Services
Intelligence Directorate
Covert action and internal operations
Owen L. Sirrs
First published 2017
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2017 Owen L. Sirrs
The right of Owen L. Sirrs to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing- in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging- in-Publication Data
Names: Sirrs, Owen L., author.
Title: Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate : covert action
and internal operations / Owen L. Sirrs.
Description: New York, NY : Routledge, 2016. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016004564| ISBN 9781138677166 (hardback) |
ISBN 9781315559711 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Pakistan. Inter Services Intelligence. | Military
intelligence–Pakistan. | Intelligence service–Pakistan.
Classification: LCC UB251.P35 S57 2016 | DDC 327.125491–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016004564
ISBN: 978-1-138-67716-6 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-55971-1 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear
Contents
List of illustrations vii
Acknowledgments viii
List of Abbreviations and Acronyms ix
Introduction 1
PART I
ISI’s Early Days 11
1 ISI’s Origins 13
2 ISI and Anglo- American Intelligence 25
3 Covert Action in Northeast India 39
4 Intelligence and the 1965 War 49
PART II
ISI at War 59
5 ISI’s Domestic Missions under Ayub 61
6 Intelligence Failures in East Pakistan 69
7 Intelligence and the 1971 War 82
8 ISI under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto 95
PART III
Overreach 107
9 Zia ul- Haq, Afghanistan and ISI 109
10 ISI’s Afghanistan War 123
vi Contents
PART IV
Adrift 139
11 Intelligence and Democracy: 1988–1999 141
12 Insurgency in Kashmir and Punjab 156
13 Escalating Tensions with India 171
14 Pakistan’s Afghan Quagmire 180
15 ISI and Osama Bin Laden 194
PART V
Confrontation 209
16 Intelligence and Nuclear Weapons in South Asia 211
17 ISI–CIA Liaison after 9/11 221
18 Friction in ISI–CIA Relations 235
19 ISI’s Internal Security Missions 249
20 US Operations in Pakistan 264
21 ISI and the Demise of Bin Laden 275
Conclusions 288
Bibliography 302
Index 308
Illustrations
Figures
1.1 Early Pakistani Intelligence Community 19
1.2 Early ISI Organization 20
2.1 Commonwealth Joint Intelligence 28
10.1 ISI’s Afghan Bureau 129
Maps
1.1 Kashmir, Summer 1947 15
3.1 Northeast India 45
9.1 Northern Pakistan 112
10.1 ISI Logistics, 1980s 124
Acknowledgments
The genesis of this book was my two- month stay at the Counterinsurgency
Training Center in Kabul, Afghanistan during the summer of 2009. It was
there that I learned a great deal more about Afghanistan–Pakistan relations in
general and ISI operations in Afghanistan in particular. My thanks therefore
to my former boss, Janice Trickel, for sending me there, Mohammed Eshaq
for hosting me, and Colonel, USA (retd) John Agoglia for providing me with
this opportunity. At the Mansfield Center I would like to thank Major
General, USAF (retd) Don Loranger, who built up the Defense Critical Lan-
guage and Culture Program from truly humble beginnings to the impressive
entity it has become today, and Brigadier USA (retd) Joel Cusker, an inspir-
ing boss and friend. I would also like to thank my Afghan colleagues here at
the center but, unfortunately, the grim realities of the Afghan war make it
impossible to name them in person. It goes without saying that they have
given me fresh insights into the tortured history of their country and its diffi-
cult relationship with Pakistan. My research was greatly enhanced with the
assistance of the Inter- Library Loan librarians at the Mansfield Library of the
University of Montana. Without their help, this book would not have been
possible. Finally, this book is dedicated to my mother, Margaret, and my
wife, Julie, both of whom were there, although at different times.
Abbreviations and Acronyms
AIG Afghan Interim Government
CAB Cabinet Papers
CI Counter Intelligence
CIA Central Intelligence Agency
CID Criminal Investigation Department
COAS Chief of Army Staff
COIN Counter Insurgency
CPP Communist Party of Pakistan
CUP Columbia University Press
DCI Director of Central Intelligence (U.S.)
DCIA Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (U.S.)
DEFE Defence Ministry
DGIB Director General Intelligence Bureau
DGISI Director General Inter- Services Intelligence
DGMI Director General Military Intelligence
DMI Director Military Intelligence
FATA Federally Administered Tribal Areas
FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation
FCO Foreign and Commonwealth Office
FO Foreign Office
FRUS Foreign Relations of the United States
GHQ General Headquarters
HM Hezbul Mujahidin
HuM Harakatul Mujahidin
HUMINT Human Intelligence
IB Intelligence Bureau
ISI Inter- Services Intelligence
JCIB Joint Counter Intelligence Bureau (ISI)
JCO Junior Commissioned Officer
JeM Jaish- e-Mohamed
JI Jama’at –e- Islami
JIB Joint Intelligence Bureau (ISI)
JIC Joint Intelligence Committee (UK)