COAS (appoints ISI head) and by implication ISI does not trust this hawk. Gen Kayani has made little secret of his distaste for Gen Petraeus, calling him a political general: NYT
The appointment of Gen David H. Petraeus as the head of the Central Intelligence Agency puts him more squarely than ever in conflict with Pakistan, whose military leadership does not regard him as a friend, the New York Times said on Friday.
As the CIA chief Gen Petraeus will now have direct control over the armed drone campaign that the Pakistani military says it wants stopped.
According to the Times report, American officials said Gen Petraeus’s selection could further inflame relations between the two nations, which are already at one of their lowest points, with recriminations over myriad issues aired publicly like never before.
The newspaper claims “the Pakistan’s army chief, Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, has made little secret of his distaste for General Petraeus, calling him a political general”.
Gen Petraeus has privately expressed outrage at what American officials say is the Pakistani main spy agency’s most blatant support yet for fighters who are carrying out attacks against American troops in Afghanistan.
Officials on both sides say they expect the two nations’ relationship to become increasingly adversarial as they manoeuvre the endgame in Afghanistan, where Pakistan and the United States have deep — and conflicting — security interests, the paper said.
Repairing the frayed ties between the C.I.A. and Inter-Services Intelligence will be difficult, American officials say. “In its current form, the relationship is almost unworkable,” said Dennis C. Blair, a former American director of national intelligence. “There has to be a major restructuring. The ISI jams the C.I.A. all it wants and pays no penalties.”
One top adviser to General Petraeus sought to play down the animosity with Pakistani officials, noting that the general had regularly met the Pakistanis for nearly three years, most recently on Monday. Still, the adviser acknowledged that with General Petraeus leading the C.I.A., “the pressure may be more strategic, deliberate and focused — to the extent that it can be”.
A Pakistani official described the mounting tensions as a game of “brinkmanship”, with both Adm. Mike Mullen, who as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has been the Obama administration’s point man on Pakistan policy, and General Kayani growing impatient because they have little to show for the many hours they have invested during more than two dozen visits over the past three years.
Admiral Mullen surprised Pakistani officials by publicly accusing the ISI of sheltering fighters from the Haqqani network, a Taliban ally that has long served as a proxy for Pakistan’s military and intelligence establishment in Afghanistan.
American commanders in eastern Afghanistan say they have killed or captured more than 5,000 militants in the past year, but fighters continue to pour across the border from sanctuaries in Pakistan to Paktia, Khost and Paktika provinces in Afghanistan.
If the ISI are terrorists then I wonder what NSA and CIA are? They have probably broken more international laws then anyone.
USA has no right to say shiit to anyone else. They're the worlds problem.
No IF's here. Pak's own ex-president seems to agree that ISI has been in cahoots with the terrorists. In fact if you are a really patriotic Pakistani that cares about peopel of Pakistan you should be angry about ISI (parts of it) funding the same terrorists that are killing your own civilians and military personnel.
This is not about international law - it is a simple matter of whether you're going to tolerate the ideology based manipulation of Pakistan by a few extremists inside ISI.
****GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA: A controversial US evangelical preacher on Sunday oversaw the burning of a copy of the Quran in a small Florida church after finding the Muslim holy book “guilty” of crimes.
The burning was carried out by pastor Wayne Sapp under the supervision of Terry Jones, who last September drew sweeping condemnation over his plan to ignite a pile of Qurans on the anniversary of September 11, 2001 attacks.
Sunday’s event was presented as a trial of the book in which the Quran was found “guilty” and “executed.”
The jury deliberated for about eight minutes. The book, which had been soaking for an hour in kerosene, was put in a metal tray in the center of the church, and Sapp started the fire with a barbecue lighter.
The book burned for around 10 minutes while some onlookers posed for photos.
Jones had drawn trenchant condemnation from many people, including US President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, over his plan to burn the Muslim holy book in September.
He did not carry out his plan then and vowed he never would, saying he had made his point.
But this time, he said he had been “trying to give the Muslim world an opportunity to defend their book,” but did not receive any answer.
He said he felt that he couldn’t have a real trial without a real punishment.
The event was open to the public, but fewer than 30 people attended.
Life in the normally quiet city of Gainesville is centered around the University of Florida. And while there were public protests against Jones’ 9/11 activities, this event was largely ignored.
Jadwiga Schatz, who came to show support for Jones, expressed concern that Islam was growing in Europe.
“These people, for me, are like monsters,” she said. “I hate these people.”
Jones said he considered this event a success.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” he said
No IF's here. Pak's own ex-president seems to agree that ISI has been in cahoots with the terrorists. In fact if you are a really patriotic Pakistani that cares about peopel of Pakistan you should be angry about ISI (parts of it) funding the same terrorists that are killing your own civilians and military personnel.
This is not about international law - it is a simple matter of whether you're going to tolerate the ideology based manipulation of Pakistan by a few extremists inside ISI.
It's not whether there are rogue elements in the ISI. I would probably agree there is but it's just funny its the US saying all this when in fact they are ones who detain civilians without evidence. They assassinate elected leaders of foreign governments or at least place embargo on those countries. This is carried out by CIA. Isnt that terrorism.
I'm acutely aware of the problems facing Pakistan and it does disappoint me that certain aspects of ISI side with terrorists. What I don't like is drone attacks that have killed more civilians then militants. Then for the US govt to say Pakistan needs to do more. All secret services play have played their part in doing unjust or illegal things but the point is I find it disgusting the US has to go all ape shiit over.
CIA does not act against US's own people or institutions. Their agenda is America's agenda.
*ISI otoh, in siding with the terrorists and funding and training them, is acting against the interests of Pakistan, its people!
*
that is the difference.
+1 a valid point
But it would still be wrong to blame the entire organisation. Although agreed there maybe some officers esp. junior ranks with extremist leanings
