Kerry urges Pakistan to control spy agency

[ProSense]

Kerry urges Pakistan to control spy agency

Mon Dec 15, 8:11 am ET

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – The Pakistan military's powerful spy agency must be tightly controlled and not allowed to act independently, Senator John Kerry said Monday after meeting Indian leaders to discuss the deadly Mumbai attacks.

India has blamed last month's attacks that killed 179 people on the banned Islamist militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which analysts say has long had ties with the Pakistan military's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency.

New Delhi has also demanded Islamabad do more to stop such militant groups from using Pakistani soil to launch attacks on Indian cities.

The Mumbai attacks have renewed suspicion in India and elsewhere about ties between Lashkar and the ISI, ratcheting up tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors.

"In the United States, our intelligence agency is obviously held accountable, not just to the administration that runs it but also to the United States Congress and, through the Congress, to the people," Kerry told reporters in New Delhi after meeting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

"It is imperative that the intelligence service of Pakistan not be able to make its own choices or operate outside of the standards that we have a right to expect," said Kerry, a Democrat and the designated head of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee who is close to President-elect Barack Obama.

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US Senator Kerry warns Pakistan govt over spy agency

NEW DELHI (AFP) – US Senator John Kerry visited India Monday and put fresh pressure on Pakistan over the Mumbai attacks, saying its powerful spy agency must be brought under control.

Ahead of talks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Kerry said Pakistan's Inter Services-Intelligence (ISI) must stop operating independently of the government and end its links with militant groups.

"We would like to see an ISI that is reforming and brought completely under civilian control," Kerry told the Indian Express.

Kerry said the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) group, which India accuses of planning the Mumbai attacks, was set up by the ISI to fight Indian rule in Kashmir.

"They formed it and they know they formed it. But they didn't know that the LeT would graduate into an enterprise of its own," Kerry said, adding the ISI was not linked to Mumbai attacks "unless at some lower level".

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari tried to put the ISI under the control of the interior ministry in July but hastily reversed his decision after protests from Pakistan's military establishment.

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[Windy]

1. Is he going to be assistant secretary of state? He has certainly been making the rounds lately..n/t

[ProSense]

2. No, he's the next Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. n/t

[karynnj]

8. which is a far more powerful position than an assistant secretary of state

Kerry will be one of the people who will provide input on foreign policy - in addition to Biden, Rice, Jones and HRC. Unlike the others, he can also have his own independent opinion.

[karynnj]

5. snark snark - he is going to be the Chair of the SFRC

Obama is also taking advantage of the fact that Kerry is by virtue of his Senate position able to meet with foreign leaders to have him report back to him at a time where it would be inappropriate for Obama to send anyone. Kerry incidentally has been on the SFRC for 20 years and has "made the rounds" in all of them - it was his job to do so.

No Senator would take the job of assistant secretary - and certainly not one who has Kerry's seniority and position in the Senate.

[LiberalFighter]

3. Our CIA is held accountable?

[ProSense]

4. They should be, shouldn't they?

If evidence surfaces that they committed crimes, they should be. Not just the CIA, but contractors like Blackwater.

Now, as far as a bombing that resulted in more than 150 deaths, the party responsible should be held accountable, shouldn't they?

[karynnj]

7. I would think so

I think all goverments need accountability over their spy networks.

[LiberalFighter]

10. I agree they should. But that wasn't the gist of my text.

I was questioning that our CIA is held accountable.

[karynnj]

6. Kerry more than any one else worked to make them so

You do realize that it was the CIA's actions that Kerry investigated starting in April 1985 - 3 months after he became Senator. It is also Kerry, who will head the SFRC - the full committee that his then committee was under. Bush pardoned everyone, but there actions were exposed.

Given that Kerry has more power than he had as a Freshman Senator and he has the same sense of right and wrong he always has had and Obama is not GHWB, I think that the government will control the CIA.

[LiberalFighter]

11. But that still doesn't mean the CIA doesn't perform illegal operations.

[karynnj]

13. True - it does mean that there is someone who has taken

oversight seriously. I would hope that Obama will demand that the executive branch do what it can and that the intelligence committee step up their work.

But, the man demanding oversight of the ISI has also provided oversight by investigating the funding of the Contras. He also got an amendment passed that gave the intelligence committee and the SFRC the information on extradition flights. The fact that he will head SFRC should lead to more accountability - something he has demanded over his whole career - and which we clearly would have had had he been elected in 2004.

[blm]

12. I think he means 'according to the rules, anyway.'

Honest lawmakers like Kerry and Gonzalez and Waters have worked to expose illegal CIA operations, but then, a few powerful Dems from the fascist wing of our party use their power to protect BushInc on even the dirtiest of their covert operations.

[ProSense]

9. Kerry in Pakistan

Kerry later arrived in Pakistan for what a US embassy spokesman in Islamabad told AFP were "scheduled talks with senior Pakistani government officials on a variety of regional issues."

On his return to Washington, Kerry is expected to brief US president-elect Barack Obama on his talks with the Indian and Pakistani leaders.

Pakistan has arrested key leaders of Lashkar-e-Taiba and shut down a charity accused of being a front for the group, freezing its assets and detaining dozens of members.

But it says it will not hand over any suspects to India, saying New Delhi has not yet provided any evidence implicating Pakistanis in the attacks.

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[EFerrari]

14. It's too easy to blame Pakistan when India has 150 million Muslims who live with routine

discrimination and worse. When India refuses to deal with Kashmir.

Pakistan and India have been having this proxy war for fifty years. It won't end, imho, by simply trying to rein in one agency.

I'm sorry Senator Kerry is in the position of advocating for Pakistan what we couldn't do with respect to the groups our government has funded, promoted and used in proxy wars all over the world. Not to mention, what we can't manage with respect to our own CIA.

[ProSense]

15. Blaming Pakistan? For what

the attack they have acknowledged originated inside their borders?

Kerry has reiterated the need for India and Pakistan to cooperate.

Zardari says government backed by Pakistan’s Intelligence Agencies

Updated at: 0129 PST, Tuesday, December 16, 2008

ISLAMABAD: US Senator John Kerry called on President Asif Ali Zardari here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr on Monday. Senator John Kerry remained with the President for sometime and discussed with him the situation in the region.

Discussing the role of the Intelligence Agencies of Pakistan in war on terror President Zardari assured US Senator, “Government enjoys full support and cooperation extended by the Intelligence Agencies of Pakistan in its drive against terror war.” Ruling out any probability that our nuclear assets could have any threat from militants.

President Zardari said we offered unconditional bilateral cooperation to Indian government to put precincts on those responsible for Mumbai carnage but India only rendered intelligence sharing instead of sharing evidences.

Sources said that Senator urged that both Islamabad and New Delhi should cooperate to ease tension.

On edit, when was the poor Pakistan talking point created?

[EFerrari]

16. It's not a "poor Pakistan" talking point but simply common sense.

There are two agents in this conflict. ISI is a problem, for sure. But, it's only one problem, not the whole picture.

I'm not criticizing Kerry. He's probably the very best person we could have dealing with this situation, imo.

[ProSense]

17. You're right, it's not the whole picture, but I don't think anyone claimed it was. n/t

[EFerrari]

19. Perhaps John Kerry hasn't and perhaps his comments are being cherry picked.

Apparently in India, the press has gone mad doing exactly that. And our own media isn't as vicious but they certainly overlook the realities of Indian democracy and demonize Pakistan, which isn't helpful if the goal is to resolve the conflict or even, to avoid violence. But, that's our media.

[karynnj]

22. For years Kissinger established a Pakistan tilt, where our policies

favored them over India. From the Amy Goodman article and other things, there are problems in India as well.

Compared to any other person who has been there, Kerry's comments, as reported, are very moderate. Remember McCain essentially gave them a green light to attack Pakistan. Kerry spoke of pressuring Pakistan to control ISI - which, even if they turn out not to be involved on this - is STILL a good objective.

[karynnj]

21. Kerry himself is consistent

He fought the use of the CIA in Central America and elsewhere. He argued against it having happened in Vietnam. He is anti-proxy wars. He even argued against Clinton using Iranian arms merchants to arm people in the Balkans. He is for accountability.

It is fact that ISI has funded terrorists in the pass. Some even entered New Delhi and killed representatives.

India and Pakistan disagree on Kashmir is more like it - rather than India refuses to deal with it.

[EFerrari]

18. You might be interested in this interview Amy had this a.m., ProSense.

I don't offer it as a defense of my own view (there's a lot I don't know about this situation) but just, fyi:

Arundhati Roy: 9 Is Not 11 (And November Isn’t September)



As comparisons between the attacks in Mumbai and the September 11th attacks continue to be made, Indian officials unveiled a massive revamp of the country’s security and anti-terror infrastructure last week. I am joined now by someone who warns of the dangers of comparing the attacks in Mumbai to the attacks in New York: award-winning novelist, essayist and activist, Arundhati Roy. Her latest article is called “9 Is Not 11 (And November Isn’t September).” It was published in India’s Outlook magazine, Britain’s Guardian newspaper, and on TomDispatch.com here in the United States.

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/12/15/arundhati_roy_9_is_not_11

video, audio, transcript at link

[Abdul Ali]

20. I'm a Pak and even I say our shit is out of control

If I may borrow a phrase by that Chicago Fed used last week, if Pakistan is not the most inept nation in the world, its a hell of a competitor.

[liberalpragmatist]

Welcome to DU!

:hi:

I'm Indian, so it's good to see other Desis on the board. It's good to have a variety of South Asian perspectives, because whenever India or Pakistan are in the news it becomes painfully obvious to me how little knowledge there is of South Asia in the U.S., even among well-informed people.

At times, I've put out some threads about India and Pakistan in which I try to be as objective as possible, but my views are naturally coming from an Indian perspective, so it's good to get some Pakistani perspective on events too.

EDIT: I don't know how I triple-posted. Sorry 'bout that.

[liberalpragmatist]

23. Delete - nt

[liberalpragmatist]

24. Delete - nt

[ProSense]

25. Photos

US Senator John Kerry (L) shakes hands with Indian Foreign
Minister Pranab Mukherjee during a meeting in New Delhi.
Kerry visited India Monday and put fresh pressure on Pakistan
over the Mumbai attacks, saying its powerful spy agency
must be brought under control.




US Senator John Kerry (L) shakes hands with
Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee during
a meeting in New Delhi. Kerry visited India
Monday and put fresh pressure on Pakistan over
the Mumbai attacks, saying its powerful spy
agency must be brought under control.




Bharatiya Janata Party leader L. K. Advani, right,
shakes hands with U.S. Democrat Senator John Kerry
during a meeting in New Delhi, India, Monday,
Dec. 15, 2008.

[ProSense]

26. Nuclear assets out of terrorists’ reach, Kerry told

Nuclear assets out of terrorists’ reach, Kerry told

By Syed Irfan Raza

ISLAMABAD, Dec 15: Pakistan’s nuclear assets are safe and out of terrorists’ reach, President Asif Ali Zardari told US Senator John Kerry on Monday.

He is also reported to have assured the Senator, who had arrived here after a visit to India, that no one would be allowed to use Pakistani soil for terrorist activities against any other country.

The president accused India of levelling baseless allegations against Pakistan, without providing evidence.

Pakistan, he said, had already offered to cooperate with India to investigate the Mumbai terror attacks, but it had not yet responded.

“India is not providing any evidence against people allegedly involved in the attacks,” he added.

President Zardari said that Pakistan’s nuclear assets were in safe hands and well-protected and there was no possibility of their falling into the hands of terrorists.

According to sources, the president also apprised Senator Kerry about two intrusions by Indian Air Force planes into Pakistan territory.

The Senator said he did not believe that the Inter-Services Intelligence or the government of Pakistan were involved in the Mumbai attacks, but that Pakistan should take tough action against ‘non-state actors’ and cooperate with India in investigating the attacks.

He said terrorist organisations like Lashkar-e-Taiba were also a constant threat for Pakistan.

Conveying a message from US President-elect Barack Obama, Mr Kerry said the US government would help Pakistan in combating terrorism.

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[ProSense]

27. Kerry vows to work toward strengthening US ties in Pakistan, Afghanistan

Kerry vows to work toward strengthening US ties in Pakistan, Afghanistan

WASHINGTON, Dec 16 (APP): Senator John Kerry, who has been appointed chairman of the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has vowed to work with its members to help strengthen United States’ cooperation in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“I look forward to working with all members of the committee to help strengthen America’s hand in Afghanistan and Pakistan, work towards global climate change solutions, and end the war in Iraq responsibly. We have a big agenda ahead of us, just as our country faces big challenges across the globe,” Kerry said in a statement released by his office.

Kerry, who was in Islamabad meeting with Pakistani leadership at the time of his appointment as chairman of the committee, said, “I am honored to serve as Chairman of a committee which I know from my own experience as a young man can impact the course of our security and help advance our values and interests in the world.”

Kerry’s predecessor and now Vice President-elect Joseph Biden is the co-architect of a legislation that aims at enhancing Pakistan assistance to $ 1.5 billion over a decade. As senator, President-elect Barack Obama was also one of the sponsors of the legislation.

In his 23 years on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Kerry has chaired the Asia and Middle East subcommittees and authored and passed several major legislations.

U.S. Sen. John Kerry, the next Foreign Relations Committee
chairman, left, shakes hands with Pakistani Prime
Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani during a meeting at the prime
minister's house in Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday, Dec. 16,
2008. A suspected U.S. missile strike killed two people
in Pakistan near the Afghan border, officials and a witness
said Tuesday, as two U.S. senators visited Islamabad amid
flaring tensions over the Mumbai attacks in India.




John Kerry (L), designated head of the U.S. Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, talks with Pakistan's national security
advisor Mehmood Ali Durani (R) and Pakistan's Foreign Minister
Shah Mehmood Qureshi (C) in Islamabad December 16, 2008.