Espionage
case shatters Pakistan army’s myths- and the belief its nuke secrets are secure,
HUSAIN HAQQANI
The recipient of secrets
shared by convicted Pakistani officials was not ‘permanent enemy’ India – but
the country that gives it billions of dollars.
1 June, 2019
The court-martial of
three individuals, including a recently retired three-star general, on charges
of espionage and revealing classified information to foreign intelligence
agencies seriously dents the charisma that helps keep Pakistan’s army in charge
of the country.
The
fact that senior military officers spied for a foreign country suggests that
Pakistan is not as safe in the hands of the men in uniform as is suggested.
If,
as has been learnt, the secrets shared by the convicted
officers are related to Pakistan’s nuclear programme, the case would
increase Pakistan’s paranoia about the security of its nuclear arsenal.
Considering that the foreign intelligence service that paid for the secrets
shared by the convicted officers belonged to the United States, there is a
greater adversarial relationship between Pakistan and the US than is often
revealed.
Involvement at the top
On
Thursday, Chief of Army Staff, General Qamar Javed Bajwa approved life
imprisonment for retired Lt General Javed Iqbal, and death sentences
for retired Brigadier Raja Rizwan Haider and Dr Wasim Akram, a civilian who
ostensibly worked in ‘a sensitive organisation.’
The
espionage ring reached the highest levels of the Pakistani national security
establishment. Lt Gen Iqbal served as Director of Military Operations, Corps
Commander, and Adjutant General before retiring in 2015; the ‘sensitive
organisation’ that employed Akram was one of the Pakistan’s many covert
nuclear facilities.
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To my
knowledge, there are several other individuals currently under investigation
and there might be more courts-martial and more convictions down the line.
The
investigation into the possibility of military officers sharing intelligence
and information with US intelligence services started soon after the raid in
May 2011 that resulted in the killing of Osama bin Laden in the garrison town
of Abbottabad.
The
Pakistani establishment’s propaganda machine created a distraction in the form
of the so-called ‘Memogate’ case against me, forcing my resignation as
Pakistan’s ambassador to the US and a long-drawn case in the Supreme
Court, which never resulted in a trial.
Fake
news stories appeared in the Pakistani media about how Pakistan’s elected
civilian government had granted visas to the CIA personnel to enter
the country and how the US mercenary security corporation, Blackwater, had been
covertly allowed in.
In
the Pakistani public’s eye, the Abbottabad raid was framed, not as a question
of why the world’s most wanted terrorist lived in Pakistan, but as the matter
of how the Americans were able to discover him. A major fear was that if the
Americans could penetrate Pakistan’s air defences without detention to get Bin
Laden, what prevents them from coming in to decapitate Pakistan’s nuclear
programme.
All
this time, behind the smoke and mirrors of propaganda against civilians,
the Pakistan army was quietly discovering spies and
information-sellers within its own ranks. The members
of ISI, and not the civilians, were the CIA’s go-to
contacts in Pakistan, and individuals like Lt Gen Iqbal had more useful
information than any civilian could have access to.
But,
as is often the case, the army wanted to preserve its image and kept its
inquiries secret. Stories about the case started to percolate when the family
members of one of the accused went to court to
find out where and why he was being held. Once it was not possible to keep the
matter secret, the army decided to present it as proof of accountability within
its ranks.
Threat to Pakistan’s
‘nuclear threat’
Pakistan’s
nuclear programme has been pieced together with designs and components acquired
from multiple sources over many years. Revelation of sources from where
Pakistan acquires the necessary inputs for its nukes, or the location of its
covert nuclear facilities, diminish the quality of Pakistan’s nuclear
deterrence.
The
army is already trying to spin the case as proof of its internal checks and
balances. An Inter-Services Public Relations press release only said
that the three men had been convicted by a Field Court Martial on charges of
espionage and divulging “sensitive information to foreign agencies prejudice to
the national security.”
But
what was not said is far more revealing. For several decades, Pakistanis have
been assured that their army is the only and ultimate guarantor of Pakistan’s
security. Several civilians who disagree with the army-backed national
narrative – including Fatima Jinnah, sister of the country’s founder – have
been described as
‘traitors’ for their contrarian opinions over the years.
None
of the critical civilians tagged with the ‘traitor’ label were ever accused of
specific crimes and no one has ever been charged with espionage for a foreign
intelligence service. Now, it turns out that in a country controlled by the
army, the individuals with access to secrets that might interest a foreign
intelligence service come from within the army.
Where the enemy isn’t
India
Moreover,
the recipient of secrets shared by the convicted officials was not ‘permanent
enemy’ India, which is the target of constant propaganda by Pakistan’s
establishment. It was the United States, the donor of $43 billion in
economic and military assistance and for years Pakistan’s patron and ally.
Clearly,
US-Pakistan relations are no longer just a Cold War alliance gone sour but an
increasingly adversarial relationship.
As
the US now deems China a major threat in the Indo-Pacific, and Pakistan
continues to draw China closer because of its obsession with India,
Pakistanis are keeping more and more secrets from the Americans. The Americans,
on the other hand, are trying harder to uncover Pakistani secrets, pitting the
two sides against one another.
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The
discovery of Pakistani military officers spying for the US on Pakistan’s
nuclear programme also raises questions about the Pakistani establishment’s
national security paradigm.
Instead
of the nukes guaranteeing Pakistan’s security against India, Pakistan must now
worry about the security of its nuclear weapons against adversaries other than
the Indians.
What lessons
But
Pakistan’s establishment is unlikely to learn the right lessons and recognise
that the ‘soldiers good, civilians bad’ dichotomy hurts Pakistan. It will not
diminish its India obsession or understand the totality of the real threats to
Pakistan (including the likelihood of economic implosion.)
We
will probably soon see new lines of attack on Pakistani civilians seeking
implementation of the country’s constitution and new distractions from the
espionage case. And there will be the usual clamour for a new round of talks
with India under the second Modi government even though the Pakistani
establishment reveals no intention whatsoever to change its ways.
Husain
Haqqani, director for South and Central Asia at the Hudson Institute
in Washington D.C., was Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States from
2008-11. His latest book is ‘Reimagining Pakistan’. Views are personal
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