------ Forwarded Message > From: Sardar <sar...@spiritone.com> > Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:47:21 -0800 > To: Sardar <recon1968br...@yahoo.com> > Subject: CIA paid millions of dollars to ISI since 9/11: Report - US - World - > The Times of India > > CIA paid millions of dollars to ISI since 9/11: Report > IANS 16 November 2009, 12:24pm ISTText Size:|Topics: > a.. Pakistan > b.. ISI > c.. CIA > > LOS ANGELES: The CIA has paid millions of dollars to Pakistan's > Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) since 9/11, accounting for as much as > one-third of > > Twitter Facebook Share > > > Email Print Save Comment > > > the foreign spy agency's annual budget, says a media report. > > The ISI also collected "tens of millions of dollars through a > classified CIA programme", which pays for the capture or killing of wanted > militants, the Los Angeles Times reported on Monday citing current and > former US officials. > > An intense debate has been triggered within the US government due to > "long-standing suspicions that the ISI continues to help Taliban extremists > who undermine US efforts in Afghanistan and provide sanctuary to al-Qaida > members in Pakistan". > > But US officials have continued to make the payments as ISI's > assistance is considered critical: "Almost every major terrorist plot this > decade has originated in Pakistan's tribal belt, where ISI informant > networks are a primary source of intelligence." > > The report went on to say that the payments to Pakistan are authorised > under a covert programme initially approved by then president Bush and > continued under President Obama. > > "The ISI has used the covert CIA money for a variety of purposes, > including the construction of a new headquarters in Islamabad, the capital. > That project pleased CIA officials because it replaced a structure > considered vulnerable to attack; it also eased fears that the US money would > end up in the private bank accounts of ISI officials." > > "What we didn't want to happen was for this group of generals in power > at the time to just start putting it in their pockets or building mansions > in Dubai," a former CIA operative was quoted as saying. > > CIA officials argue that their own disbursements - particularly the > bounties for suspected terrorists - should be considered a bargain. > > "They gave us 600 to 700 people captured or dead," a former senior CIA > official, who worked with the Pakistanis, was quoted as saying. > > "Getting these guys off the street was a good thing, and it was a big > savings to (US) taxpayers." > > Another US intelligence official said Pakistan had made "decisive > contributions to counter-terrorism". > > "They have people dying almost every day," the official said. "Sure, > their interests don't always match up with ours. But things would be one > hell of a lot worse if the government there was hostile to us." > > The ISI is a highly compartmentalised intelligence service, with > divisions that sometimes seem at odds with one another. Units that work > closely with the CIA are walled off from a highly secretive branch that has > directed insurgencies in Afghanistan and Kashmir, the Los Angeles Times > report said. > > "There really are two ISIs," the former CIA operative said. > > "On the counter-terrorism side, those guys were in lock-step with us," > the former operative said. "And then there was the 'long-beard' side. Those > are the ones who created the Taliban and are supporting groups like > Haqqani." > > The network led by Jalaluddin Haqqani has been accused of carrying out > a series of suicide attacks in Afghanistan, including the 2008 bombing of > the Indian Embassy in Kabul. > > > > http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/CIA-paid-millions-of-dollars-to-IS > I-since-9/11-Report/articleshow/5235067.cms
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