J Gopikrishnan
26 October 2015
The Wikileaks’ latest exposé on CIA Director John Brennan’s private emails reveals the role of Pakistan’s use of militant proxies for creating terror in India. The tranche of emails leaked by unidentified hackers also shows the Intelligence agency urging the US Government to refrain from antagonising Pakistan as regards its role in Afghanistan, especially its ties with the Taliban, to counter growing Indian influence there. It suggests that the US President should appoint a “Special Coordinator” to look for ways “to alleviate Pakistan’s concerns about India’s influence in Afghanistan”.
Among the volley of emails, the India-specific portions related to the period of 2008. The details of the November 7, 2008 report (just three weeks before the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks) to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence reveal the cautious treading of the US with both India and Pakistan while keeping Islamabad in a good mood for success of its Af-Pak operations. It also talks about the negativity of certain officers in Pakistan military and Intelligence services.
“Efforts in the Federal Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) have been challenged by Pakistan’s ambivalence toward, and perhaps outright support for, the Taliban. While the US Intelligence Community differs on the extent of the relationships, at least some elements of Pakistan’s military and three Intelligence services appear to be ambivalent about the anti-Taliban and anti-militant mission in the FATA, in part due to their history of close ties to the Taliban in Afghanistan’s conflict with the Soviet Union and Pakistan’s use of militant proxies in its conflict with India,” said the report submitted by Louis Tucker to Vice-Chairman Bond of Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
The leaked e-mails of the CIA chief show that the US could not antagonise Pakistan’s move to have working relations with Taliban as this relationship is desired by Islamabad to counter Indian and Iranian interests in the Af-Pak region.
“Pakistan’s desire to counter India’s growing influence in Afghanistan and concerns about US long-term commitments to Afghanistan increase Pakistan’s interest in hedging its bets by ensuring that it will be able to have a working relationship with the Taliban to balance Indian and Iranian interests if the United States withdraws,” said the leaked report.
The Wikileaks exposé shows that the CIA and FBI team members frequently visited India, Pakistan and Afghanistan during this period. “Five of us traveled to India, Afghanistan and Pakistan from October 6 2015 to hear perspectives of operators and commanders on the ground and to discuss with them our working hypotheses. Due to time and security constraints we were limited in travel to New Dehli, Kabul, Mazar i Sharif, Herat, Kandahar, Orgun, Khowst, Asadabad, a location near Barikowt, and Islamabad,” said the report detailing the operations of CIA and other US agencies in the region.
The report also talks about ways to curb the opium cultivation originating from Afghanistan and its money trail to terror and mafia-related activities in the region leading to India and Thailand. The report suggests promoting other cultivations like pomegranates. It says as India is a potential user of pomegranates there are abundant prospects for its cultivation in Afghanistan.
“For example, pomegranate trees are highly coveted in Afghanistan and there is a market for them in Afghanistan and overseas. Afghanistan exported 50,000 tons of pomegranates to India last year, yet the Indian market could absorb one million tons. Despite this promising opportunity, the agriculture representative noted that an investment in tree crops is an investment in the future, which most Afghans cannot afford, especially if they are concerned that the Taliban will continue to grow in strength and will burn down their investment,” said the report from the leaked emails of CIA Chief.
The report also talks about the “conundrum in Iran” and ways to tackle it while maintaining the interests of the US Government. The controversies and CIA’s versions on the torture in its secret cells and CIA’s legal issues with the Analysis Corporation were also part of the leaked email tranche. The hackers had also leaked the Address Book of CIA chief’s private email ID and internal reports on staffing and purchase details. On Sunday certain hawkers through their hidden IDs from UK claimed in social media responsibility for leaking the private emails of the CIA chief.
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