Pakistan is known for its vulnerable economy, chaotic politics, and modest human development index. But when it comes to strategic significance, military capability, and warfare expertise – the poor South Asian country transcends even the best.
The country’s army the most battled-hardened military force in the world on the basis of several yardsticks including physical agility, combat efficiency, and motivation. Its special services group (SSG) tops the 9 most elite special forces in the world.
And the mainstay of the Pakistan’s phenomenal strategic and military capability is the covert arm of its military, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) – rated #1 intelligence agency in the world ahead of United States’ CIA and Britain’s MI6.
Mulled as the most paranormal spy organization worldwide, it developed itself into a formidable espionage and counter-espionage force multiplier in 1980s during a close cooperation with CIA to pawn Soviet invasion in Afghanistan.
ISI has exceptional command and control system. It has thousands of active agents network with zero agent rate (no agent captured). It has a unique mission success rate of about 95%. It has ensured vibrant Kashmir freedom movement.
Before 1980s, Afghanistan soil was continuously been used by its archrival, India, to undermine peace in Pakistan. The Soviet Union was also siding India to choke Pakistan, in the backdrop of its alliance with the United States.
Pakistan could no way afford to be sandwiched between India on the eastern border and Soviet Union on the western front – both of them who were responsible for bisection of the country in 1971.
ISI prophesized the rotten threats to national security with Soviet annexation of Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the United States was also in quest of an opportunity to ‘fix’ its Sputnik-era foe. So, the Soviet aggression obliged a common pitch to both CIA and ISI to protect their national interests.
Pakistan eventually fought and won the biggest war in the history not only for itself but also for the United States; without any US military footprint on the Afghan soil. It devastated 15-training camps, responsible for terrorist activities in Pakistan.
Astute Gen. Hamid Gul is characterized as the godfather of ISI. He was a close comrade of Gen. Zia-ul-Haq and Gen. Akhtar Abdul Rehman, who masterminded the Afghan war against Soviet Union and reportedly served as a ‘vessel’ to US & Saudi financial and weapon support to Afghan mujahideen.
The Pakistani spymaster was presented a piece of Berlin Wall by German people in gratitude for delivering the first blow to the Soviet Union. India accused Gul for his active role in spearheading Kashmir movement.
The United States counted Gul a valuable friend until he turned into a strong US critic after its imposed sanctions on Pakistan over its nuclear program without treating India with the same gage.
Most of the ISI achievements (video) are untold, except for a few. It was ISI that helped to secure Pakistan’s western border. It was ISI that aided to nurture Pakistan’s nuclear program. It was ISI that protected Pakistan’s nuclear assets.
It was ISI that disrupted CIA’s ‘Independent Kashmir’ movement. It was ISI that eliminated the largest terrorist organization of its time, Al-Zulfiqar. It was that ISI that played a key role in razing the jinx of terrorism to bring peace in Pakistan.
The Ojhri camp was a disastrous incidence. Gen. Javed Nasir, who later became ISI chief, was the in charge of the team, responsible for cleaning up the Ojhri camp adversity. He personally carried high explosive blinds with his owned hands and along with his team, cleaned up the area in record 15-days while the US and the French experts estimated that at least 6-months were needed to finish the task.
Most of the Pakistanis are hoodwinked that Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha, then ISI head, downplayed Pakistan on Raymond Davis in 2011. He actually boxed CIA into corner by bargaining Davis for scaling back the US drone program and CIA secret missions in Pakistan.
During the course of the negotiations, Pasha exchanged some harsh words with CIA counterpart Leon Panetta in Langley. He left the meeting fragmentary and departed back to Pakistan after Panetta’s vindictive tone riled him. He reminded him that Pakistan is a sovereign country and ‘my boss is Allah, not America’.
So, from nailing-down India to Russian fold, post 9/11 US invasion in Afghanistan, American cyclic deceits, leading war on terror, consolidating ties with Russia, growing conflicts in Middle East, and bolstering ties with China – ISI has succeeded enormously without conceding national interests.
There is no example in the history that a least-resourced intelligence agency has honed to laudably take on a number of heavily-funded and technological advanced shadowy organizations of the world simultaneously including two superpowers.
After utter failure to vying ISI in intelligence – some international media outlets have constantly mingled the mantra since long that ISI is ‘a rogue organization’, ‘a deep state’, or ‘state within a state’. They also charge ISI for providing support to militants in Afghanistan.
Unfortunately, some domestic ostensible political leaders also patronize this nemesis’ notion against ISI – adding that it subverts elected governments, manage elections, and operates beyond the control of the government to cover their errs and to dent the unprecedented contributions of these anonymous protagonists.
In fact, the veracity is far away from such motivated, disingenuous, and fabricated narratives. Empirically, ISI operatives work for their very own institution, very own government, and very own country.
ISI is very professional and disciplined organization which operates under the military command and serves its own government. And a number of international intelligence experts, scholars, writers, and ex-spy officers acknowledge it in the several articles and interviews.
Michael Scheuer, an ex-CIA officer who worked with ISI for almost 20 years, out-rightly rejects (video) the forged impression that ISI is a rogue organization. He slams the US administration for the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan.
‘ISI is a very disciplined and very able intelligence service that protects its own country and supports its own government.’ ‘We have created a mess in Afghanistan; they (Pakistan) have to sort it out.’
Ex-CIA and US army chief, Gen. David Petraeus denies (video) as much as explosive support to militants as some of the journalists believe. Talking on the ISI links with Afghan militants, he tipped that as an intelligence service, you have to do this.
Former RA&W chief, AS Dulat says ‘the most powerful intelligence agency is, either KGB which no more exists, or ISI, because they are very anonymous’.
Vinod Sharma, an Indian political editor, concludes his analysis ‘much as India’s ineptitude and worst hurt me as an Indian, I have to admire that Pakistan – a nation that is 1/6th India’s size and10th India’s GDP – has achieved through the ISI, whose successes have been nothing short of spectacular’.