02 September 2010By Shahid R. Siddiqi
This notorious private contractor is spreading
its tentacles in Pakistan for undercover activities on
behalf of the US agencies
Not too long ago, a wave of concern had swept
through Pakistan when the local media began screaming
about Blackwater’s growing infiltration in the country
and its dubious activities. The mounting pressure to
expel this infamous US defense contractor put the
Zardari government in a corner. It could neither
ignore public pressure nor displease its benefactors
in Washington. In the end, it chose to vehemently deny
these stories. Pakistan’s interior minister, Rehman
Malik, said publicly he would resign if Blackwater is
found operating anywhere in Pakistan, as if his
resignation would be a great loss for the people.
These stories were also denounced as false propaganda
by US officials. Responding to accusations that the US
Embassy was sponsoring Blackwater, the US Ambassador,
Anne Patterson, insisted that “Blackwater is not
operating in Pakistan.” She claimed that Pakistani
journalists were “wildly incorrect,” and blamed them
for compromising the security of US personnel in
Pakistan. Secretary Clinton, during her visit shortly
thereafter, also dodged questions on the subject.
The information that has now emerged proves the fear
of the Pakistanis to be correct. Not only has
Blackwater been working in Pakistan, but it grows
stronger by the day.
Who would know about Blackwater’s presence or absence
in Pakistan better than the owner of Blackwater
himself? The reclusive owner of the infamous
Blackwater empire, Eric Prince, was caught on audio
tape by The Nation, a New York based magazine,
acknowledging that his organization does work in
Pakistan. He said this in a speech earlier this year
at the University of Michigan.
In response to the debate on whether armed individuals
working for Blackwater could be classified as
‘unlawful combatants’ being ineligible for protection
under the Geneva Conventions, Prince scornfully said,
“You know, people ask me that all the time, ‘Aren’t
you concerned that you folks aren’t covered under the
Geneva Convention in [operating] in the likes of Iraq
or Afghanistan or Pakistan? And I say, ‘Absolutely
not,’ because these people don’t know where Geneva is,
let alone that there was a convention there.”
Could Prince have been clearer on this issue? One
wonders how Pakistan’s interior minister or Ambassador
Patterson could prove him wrong. One wonders also if
it is time for the interior minister to abide by his
promise to resign and Ambassador Anne Patterson to
apologize to the people of Pakistan for making false
statements.
The reality is that the stories were true and hence
have refused to go away. The people of Pakistan
neither took the US Ambassador seriously, given their
distrust for the US and its self-serving policies, nor
gave any credence to denials of their own government,
knowing full well where these came from. They are
convinced that this notorious private contractor is
spreading its tentacles in Pakistan for undercover
operations on behalf of the US agencies. There is a
growing fear that Pakistan could soon witness Iraq and
Afghanistan-like situations at the hands of Blackwater
agents.
Blackwater, described as the most notorious mercenary
army, which recently underwent rebranding as ‘Xe
Services LLC’ in response to legal complications owing
to its unlawful activities, has played a crucial role
in the American wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and now
Pakistan. From the beginning of Bush’s ‘war on terror’
it has undertaken secret and illegal operations that
CIA, Pentagon or State Department could not themselves
undertake due to Congressional restrictions.
Blackwater earns multimillion revolving contracts
because it enables the U.S. to circumvent
Congressional restrictions and achieve their goals
without deploying uniformed soldiers in these
countries due to political sensitivities. As Eric
Prince put it: “…the private sector can operate there
with a very, very small, very light footprint”. And on
top of it, there was no fear of accountability.
Blackwater operatives are usually deployed under
cover, for instance as aid workers.
In Pakistan, as in other countries, Blackwater is
honeycombed with CIA, US Joint Special Operations
Command (JSOC), Pentagon and State Department in
conducting a variety of operations. Additionally, it
is also perceived by the people and the media to be
involved in supporting the agenda of destroying the
fabric of Pakistan’s nationhood through suicide
bombings, fanning religious extremism and supporting
nationalist and separatist movements, using Pakistanis
whose loyalties are up for sale.
In Pakistan, Blackwater operatives are reportedly
positioned in key locations for spying and watching US
interests. Jeremy Scahill, author of the New York
Times Best Seller Blackwater, in his article “The
Secret US War in Pakistan” states: “At a covert
forward operating base run by the US Joint Special
Operations Command (JSOC) in the Pakistani port city
of Karachi, members of an elite division of Blackwater
are at the center of a secret program in which they
plan targeted assassinations of suspected Taliban and
Al Qaeda operatives, ‘snatch and grabs’ of high-value
targets and other sensitive action inside and outside
Pakistan.”
He goes on to say: “the Blackwater operatives also
assist in gathering intelligence and help direct a
secret US military drone bombing campaign that runs
parallel to the well-documented CIA predator strikes,
according to a well-placed source within the US
military intelligence apparatus”. Quoting a military
intelligence source, he says: “the Blackwater team in
Karachi also helps plan missions for JSOC inside
Uzbekistan against the Islamic Movement of
Uzbekistan”.
Jeremy Scahill also reports on the Pentagon having
contracted a Pakistani company owned by influential
Pakistanis with close links to Eric Prince, for ground
transportation of large Afghanistan-bound arms
shipments from Port Qasim in Karachi. Interestingly,
security of the consignments has been entrusted to
Blackwater operatives working under disguise.
With the Zardari government cornered in the wake of
the Blackwater scandal last year, the Americans found
to their dislike the Pakistan foreign office dragging
its feet over issuance of unlimited number of visas,
unlike their past practice. This time the foreign
office refused issuance of visas to an unusually large
batch of 300 non-diplomatic staff listed as ‘defense
officials’ without first examining their purpose of
entry and antecedents. The foreign office was also
reluctant to meet US demand of granting diplomatic
visas to them and allowing privileges like exemption
of baggage from customs inspections. Not only was this
against the rules but raised suspicions about nature
of the cargo these personnel intended bringing into
Pakistan.
Washington justified these unusually large numbers
saying these personnel were being assigned to process
the aid that was being given to Pakistan. “….We just
need more visas to put the people in place to help
work with Pakistan and to make progress on economic
issues, security issues, and agricultural issues,”
said State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley. Then to
prove its point, it held up disbursement of the
promised economic assistance. It went further and also
held up routine visas for Pakistani diplomats on
transfer to Washington.
Pakistan’s foreign office eventually capitulated to
Washington’s demands, the crunch apparently coming
after the visit of Secretary Clinton and Ambassador
Holbrooke to Islamabad, who promised to ‘clear ways
for assistance projects’ in exchange for the visas.
The insistence by the US State Department for visas
for personnel who did not initially qualify in the
judgment of Pakistan’s foreign office makes these
personnel appear dubious. They appear even more
dubious because reportedly the information given on
their visa applications was found incomplete and
evasive. This underscored the perception that under
the cover of diplomatic visas, more employees of
American ‘private contractors’ were being smuggled
into Pakistan.
Reportedly, about 180 US Cobra operatives, including
Xe personnel, have recently been secretly positioned
in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, and Quetta, and more
are expected to join them. The US intelligence
agencies think that a number of Al-Qaeda and Taliban
leaders are hiding in Karachi, Quetta and Peshawar.
There are also reports that about 650 US nationals,
including 200 US Marines, are either on their way or
have arrived already on multiple entry visas granted
by the Pakistan Embassy in Washington under special
authority given to Pakistan’s Ambassador Haqqani by
President Zardari. There was no need for any special
authority if the US visa requests qualified under the
existing rules. Clearly, the rules had to be bent.
Amid fears that the CIA, JSOC, Pentagon and the State
Department would not hesitate to pass off their
private contractors’ operatives as ‘defense
officials’, the bending of visa rules and giving a
carte blanche to the US Embassy is a grave folly. If
anything, this is an indicator of how far the
sovereignty and the security of the state are being
compromised by the Zardari government for the sake of
economic assistance that the Americans cannot really
stop indefinitely. Why does President Zardari forget
that the Americans need Pakistan badly and giving
economic assistance to Pakistan is in America’s own
interest, as much as taking it is in the interest of
Pakistan?
©
EsinIslam.Com
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