Why won't Pakistan reform its intelligence services?
Pakistan's military-controlled Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has long been known for maintaining ties with some of South Asia's most ruthless terrorist groups. Most recently, it has been argued that the ISI could have indirectly been behind India's deadly Mumbai attacks, leading New Delhi to pressure Islamabad to reform its controversial intelligence agency. Such reform would be in the United States' best interest, not only for obvious moral reasons but also to avoid a costly confrontation between two of Washington's key allies. Yet it appears few in Pakistan are truly pushing for a full clean-up of the ISI's historical networks; an observation that is particularly troubling if one considers the fact that many Pakistanis, too, have been terror targets in the past few years.
Wonder about the many reasons why the ISI can't, or won't cut off its militant ties? Andrew's got a full report available here and published by the Asia Sentinel.
Andrew's article was recommended by the World Politics Review's daily Media Roundup.
Andrew D. Bishop
Andrew is a graduate of the London School of Economics currently working for the think tank branch of a leading non-profit foundation in Geneva, Switzerland. He was also a young freelance journalist and the founder, director, and editor of Leader's Talk, a platform dedicated to covering interviews given by world leaders on a daily basis. Andrew blogs at What You Must Read
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