Pakistan’s ISI On Trial….In Chicago
I don’t think being skinned counts as receiving indisputable help, particularly when all signs point to top al Qaeda operatives such as KSM being ISI assets that the ISI sacrificed because they wanted the bounty money to keep themselves in business.
If you’d like to review the bounty program in detail, Professor Fair, you can read my November 2009 post, How the U.S. government built a perpetual-motion war machine in Afghanistan and sacrificed American values in the process
The upshot of the bounty program is that together the U.S. and Pakistan built a kind of perpetual motion machine:
At the end of every complex set of transactions between the CIA and the ISI, yet more enemy combatants materialize, to be rounded up or dispatched, leading to yet more enemy combatants to attack ISAF troops and nation-building efforts in Afghanistan, to be rounded up or dispatched, leading to — well, last night CNN reported that “Taliban” now control 80 percent of Afghanistan, even though only 7 percent of Afghanis support the Taliban.
The finding of Chicago-related terrorism plots on Osama bin Laden’s computer drives means that the trial takes on a new significance; Are Rana and Headley part of an operational cell designed to carry out attacks in the Windy City and not just a support team for Mumbai?
Chicago Tribune –Trial will probe alleged Chicago ties to Mumbai attack
While federal prosecutors link the alleged Mumbai plotters only to Lashkar, Headley has told investigators of a co-conspirator known only as “Major Iqbal,” who was working for Pakistan’s largest intelligence service, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI.
Further, Rana’s attorneys have also alleged in court documents that Rana believed Headley was working for ISI.
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Cameron Schaefer:
May 7th, 2011 at 3:35 pm
The Amazon single, "Pakistan and the Mumbai Attacks: The Untold Story" is a great primer, written by ProPublica contributer Sebastian Rotella. About 30-odd pages, it goes into far more detail on the planning and execution, including possible (likely) ISI-involvement and backing, then anything else I’ve read or seen on the subject. Highly recommend.
Charles Cameron:
May 7th, 2011 at 4:45 pm
Hi Cameron:
.
I have the impression that the Amazon single is likely a mildly edited version of these two Propublica pieces:
The Amazon version begins and ends with the same words as the first, and closes with the ending of the second, it seems to have been cleaned up a bit, and its price is no problem — but I’ve downloaded the articles too, because they’re far easier to quote from, since Amazon singles don’t allow cut-n-paste.
Pundita:
May 8th, 2011 at 6:48 am
Cameron, Charles, thank you for the links, which I’ll include in my next post on the Rana trial. I assume you’ve seen the 2009 HBO documentary, "Terror in Mumbai" but in case anyone reading this hasn’t, it is a ‘must’ see not only with regard to understanding the massacre in Mumbai but also the modern era in terrorism. For those who know nothing about the documentary I warn it is extremely difficult viewing, even for those inured to battlefield footage, because it contains about 20 minutes of ‘real time’ cell phone conversations of a handler calmly guiding a team of terrorists through their murder rampage.
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http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/terror-in-mumbai/index.html
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My great concern at this time is that the American public is so war weary that even without the government’s moves to downplay the Rana trial little media attention will be given it outside Chicago. (I was glad to see from the Chicago Tribune link that Mark featured that at least in Chicago the trial is getting press attention.)
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