Our CIA “Freedom Fighters” in Pakistan

The CIA’s use of mercenaries to fight covert wars is an essential component of US foreign policy as old as the CIA itself. It effectively evades the Constitutional requirement that only allows Congress to declare war, as well as effectively concealing the vast majority of these “interventions” from public view. In fact the American pubic was largely unaware of these secret CIA wars prior to the Irangate scandal in1987. In this case, Reagan and the CIA defied Congress by continuing an illegal war against Nicaragua, which they funded by the secret illegal sale of weapons to Iran, an enemy nation. And, as was later learned, cocaine trafficking by the CIA-backed Contras.

During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan (1979-89), the CIA funding and training of Mujahideen freedom fighters led by Saudi businessman Tim Osman (his CIA name – most Americans know him as Osama bin Laden) was also well-publicized.

National Security Advisor Bzezinski Meetin with Osman

National Security Adviser Brzezinski Meeting with Osman

The CIA Covert War in Balochistan

In 2006, a series of exposes were published in the Pakistani and Asian press regarding covert CIA support for the separatist movement in Balochistan, a western Pakistan province bordering Afghanistan. Obviously it’s a subject that receives virtually no attention in the US media. However the recent arrest and trial of CIA/Xe (Blackwater) operative Raymond Davis in Lahore threatens to blow the lid off the extensive role CIA covert operations play in the climate of violence and instability throughout Pakistan.

Davis is charged with shooting two Pakistani intelligence agents and for offering to supply Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders with nuclear fissile and biologic agents (aka weapons of mass destruction). These are the facts, as reported by the international media, and, surprisingly, CNN (see http://www.zerohedge.com/article/cia-agent-caught-red-handed-aiding-pakistani-terrorism). I think the New York Times has finally admitted Davis is a CIA operative (despite their initial insistence that he was a US diplomat and entitled to diplomatic immunity). Amy Davidson has written an interesting article for the online New Yorker (http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/closeread/2011/02/keeping-quiet-about-davis.html) exploring why the New York Times chose not to report that Davis was a CIA agent, even after the Obama administration confirmed he was.

The Texts on Davis’ Cellphones

According to Pakistani prosecutors, Davis’ motives in offering to provide Pakistani terrorists with weapons of mass destruction was to create a “false flag” operation – in other words to commit a horrific terrorist act as a pretext to increase US military presence in Pakistan. I suspect Davis’ exact motivation will be difficult to prove, though the text messages on his two cell phones to known Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders are pretty damning. Nevertheless, the case will have a major impact on the US war in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Rumors about CIA operatives and contractors sponsoring both Al Qaeda and the Taliban to commit terrorist acts (as a justification for the continuing war on terror) have been circulating for years. To my knowledge, this is the first time one of them has been caught red-handed.

Pakistan’s Crackdown on Blackwater and the CIA

As a result of large militant protests over Davis’ arrest – and the large numbers of Pakistani civilians killed by CIA drones – the Pakistan government is demanding the expulsion of all Xe (Blackwater) contractors and CIA operatives from their country. In addition, Pakistan has also launched an investigation into the 414 Americans with diplomatic passports who serve no diplomatic function. (See http://realisticbird.wordpress.com/2011/03/03/blowback-from-the-arrest-of-the-cias-raymond-davis/)

I assume, based on a March 1 speech to the Assembly by Pakistan prime minister Gilani, that this includes CIA operatives involved in training, financing and overseeing “freedom fighters” in the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. In the speech, Gilani accuses “hostile external elements” of supporting the insurgency in the province of Balochistan is probably even more significant. (See http://tribune.com.pk/story/125602/baloch-insurgency-funded-from-abroad-pm/)

Owing to their heavy dependence on the US for political and economic aid, the Pakistan government has always tiptoed around CIA support for the BLA. In the past they have publicly accused Britain’s MI6 and RAW of supporting Baloch separatists. However discussions of CIA involvement always take place in closed door hearings:

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=201131\story_1-3-2011_pg7_1

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=5003

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7705

Funding Both Sides of the War on Terror

The bizarre reality that the US is financing both sides in Pakistan’s war on terror (the US provides the F-16 jets the Pakistani military uses to bomb Baloch villages in Balochistan) also puts Islamabad in an extremely embarrassing position. (See http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7705)

Moreover there’s absolutely no way to ascertain whether random acts of terror in the tribal areas on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan are caused by the Taliban, Al Qaeda or the BLA. However the Pakistan government has good reason to be concerned about the CIA’s role in training and financing Baloch separatists (according to locals, they get paid $200 a month, $300 for section chiefs) in the region’s epidemic of violence. (See http://www.lisauk.com/baluchistan.asp)

The Balochistan Liberation Army

The Balochistan Liberation Army

To be continued, with a discussion of the real (strategic) reasons for the war on Pakistan.

30 Comments

  • When I firstly saw your web, I’ve been around in many pages that I’ll use to get my final assignment. I googling with my short idea in my brain, and then I met with useful article. I hope you can give several advices to me, because your knowledge is great, it can help many students to get great score in every task or project. If you don’t mind, I will contact you to make short discussion for my project. I write my short comment for you to give support for your site; my friends had used your article as reference in specific term and condition. After that, my friends are satisfied with your article (I’ve given reference to read many pages in your site). We can make other discussion later, because it will be worth to me. Thanks in advance, hope you contact me, so we can broaden our knowledge together.

  • Keep in mind that Balochistan was never been part of india but independet state which was torn into pieces dividing its land mass into Iran, Afganistan and later pakistan by British.
    Pakistan army consist 95% ethnic Punjabis who never willing to share pakistani resources and jobs to other minorities like Baloch and sindhis instead they use Islamic extreemist parties to marginalize other minorities.
    Pakistani ISI and Chinese secret service is involve abducting killing and dumping young Baloch independence seekers.Balkanising Pakistan is every bodies interest which contend spread of juhadhi agenda of Pakistan army.

  • Thank you, Kalgor, for your helpful observations. I agree totally that everyone should be concerned about the factional violence in Balochistan. People shouldn’t have to live that way.

  • @kalgor/stuart: Your thoughts despite the literal slavery of the Baloch people by their tribal cheifs? The killing of any development and rehab projects by kidnapping and murdering all those who have entered the province?

    Geographically the area is arid and agriculture is not possible there.

    Yes the area has been neglected but more so due to the hostility of the locals than than the disregard by the central governments. Those who were brave enough to set up factories and industries there had to abandon their investments due to the constant rpg attacks and kidnappings by the extremists.

    As for Sindh, you do realize that Karachi is not only the provinces central city but also the country’s economic hub? Sindh has historically been dependent on agriculture and severe floods/droughts due to lack of rain are not caused by the “Punjabis” but mother nature.

    Thanks for the post btw. Hope to read your other works.

  • Dresden, thanks for your comment. I’m aware that the problem of Balochistan is very complicated – I probably don’t know enough about this area of the world take sides. As an American, my problem is with the CIA covertly funding mercenaries there and concealing this from Congress and the American people. Under the US Constitution this is illegal.

  • Major thankies for the blog article.Really looking forward to read more. Really Great.

  • Ashish (India) April 1, 2011 at 6:15 am

    Balochistan had opted to remain independent state during the division of the sub-continent by british. However, like the state of hyderabad was taken over by India despite its contention to remain an independent state, Balochistan was taken over by Pakistan. The entire episode is like “tangled treads of two geopolitical phenonmena”. one : India Pakistan rivalry and Two: US efforts of world dominance. 1971 war of liberation of Bangladesh , was a strategy to break the chain of Allies US was building around the soviet union. In the following years Soviet union invaded Afghanistan and India started training the balochistan Liberation Army in its western sectors. the Idea could have been invasion of Pakistan by either India or soviet union. That is y initially USA backed pakistan as an ally but the true idea was to retain the chain of allies and dump soviet influence all around. In the later years chinese inclination of pakistan ruptured US mind set of retaining it as a potential partner for influence in south asia. Nuclear proliferation into north Korea and Iran by pakistan and China has caused enough damage to US strategic interests Owing to which US is trying to sink pakistan the only link between China, North Korea and Iran. Afghanistan and Iraq are like two sides of the same coin. US has chosen both sides so incase one fails the other serves the purpose. Presence in Afghan serves as back door entry to china in case of a conflict. Also, Iran can be kept under pressure by US presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. Its hard to uncover the true face of the US government policy makers. One observation is that since the end of WW2 there is no decade when the US wasnt at war. when we c this its hard to digest that the governments are involved in lot of dirty geopolitics.

  • Is the Strategic importance of the oil / gas / pipeline “opportunities” such that the return on investment is is a positive ons? I mean, the costs of war, propaganda – public opinion, human life, suffering, etc. seems much higher than simply buying the resources. The end of Oil will see more wars and troop deployments, but are these developments CIA loose canons or part of the bigger objective to destabilize Pakistan in order to “secure” their nuclear arsenal?

    My info: http://totallyfreepress.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/cia-raymond-davis-in-pakistan-the-background-story/

    http://totallyfreepress.wordpress.com/2011/03/14/undefined-nuclear-goals/

  • Free Press, I honestly believe it’s the other way around – that the claims about so-called nuclear insecurity are the pretext – just like the war on terror is a pretext. Enough has been leaked about Bush-Cheney concern about Peak Oil and their strategy of invading Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Iran to shut off Russian and Chinese access to oil contracts there.

    The Pentagon analysts who promote US support for the Baloch separatist movement seem mainly concerned about the Chinese monopoly on Iranian oil flowing through the Chinese Gwadar Port. Here’s another one published 2 weeks ago: http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/chinese-cozy-up-pakistanis-5027

    Moreover, Pakistan was a relatively stable country in 2002 when the CIA opened the first training camp in Balochistan. Remember CIA destabilization efforts haven’t been limited to the Baloch separatist movement. Since Davis’ arrest and release, retired Pakistani military and intelligence officers have been speaking out openly about the involvement of 313 CIA/Blackwater agents like Davisin car bombings and covert assassinations in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad.

  • According to one observer, Gwadar is a dead duck.

    excerpts:

    Gwadar still conjures up images of pristine beaches and rugged mountains and evokes the same mood of optimism that was generated eight years ago when the development of the port city first begun.

    . . .But when I visit the port, I see the cranes lying idle and deserted. A port official informs me that the cargo handling cranes received a large fertiliser shipment some five months. Nothing much has moved since.

    Instead, the harbour has become a hub of oil smuggling thanks to the absence of regulated petroleum products in the city.

    http://www.thebalochhal.com/2011/02/gwadar-an-unfulfilled-dream/

  • You have being blind-sided by your biases. Why is it bad for US to meddle in Baluchistan but good for Pakistan to meddle in Afghanistan and to nurture proxies that create terror around the world? I am stunned by somebody who can consider Pakistan a victim, when it has consciously nurtured bigotry for 60 years (try reading their text books), committed genocide (3 million killed in Bangladesh) and supported Al_Quaeda and variety of terror groups. Finally, for the record, there is no substance to your argument that CIA supports BLA while there is a mountain of evidence about Pakistani complicity in terror. A little balance would go a long way in your thinking.

  • Gopal, thank you for your comment. Just to be clear about my so-called “biases.” I’m not saying it’s “wrong” for the US to meddle in Balochistan. What is “wrong” (according to the US Constitution) for the President and CIA to secretly wage war without Congressional authority.

    And I’m certainly not trying to paint Pakistan – which until a few years ago was a military dictatorship totally dominated and supported by the Pentagon and CIA – as a victim.

    Unfortunately there is a great deal of evidence that the CIA supports the BLA, which I reference in subsequent blogs:

    http://stuartbramhall.aegauthorblogs.com/2011/03/09/redrawing-the-map-the-balkanization-of-pakistan/

    http://stuartbramhall.aegauthorblogs.com/2011/03/11/the-cias-strange-bedfellows-in-balochistan/

    Moreover an increasing number of Pakistani military and intelligence officers are coming forward with evidence implicating both the CIA and RAW in supporting the Baloch separatist movement. See the following links:

    http://www.defence.pk/forums/strategic-geopolitical-issues/103108-us-motives-behind-balochistan-unrest.html

    http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/free-baluchistan-4799

    http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=422251&version=1&template_id=41&parent_id=23

    http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=84223

    http://globalpoliticalawakening.blogspot.com/2011/04/target-china-deeper-look-at-globalist.html

    http://www.opinion-maker.org/2011/03/pakistan-uniting-against-the-foreign-enemies/

    http://tribune.com.pk/story/138402/pak-india-dialogue-delegation-reaches-new-delhi/

    http://www.judicialselectioncoalition.org/pakistan-not-sleeping.htm

    http://thefinancialdaily.com/news/international/india-china-rivalry-a-tale-of-two-ports-67046.aspx

    http://www.forbes.com/global/2010/0510/companies-pakistan-oil-gas-balochistan-china-pak-corridor.html\

  • There is a real irony, when your subject is Pakistan, and you are talking about legal standards that US needs to uphold. Pakistan has a legal treaty obligation against waging war with India. Yet, that obligation has been violated every single day since the treaty was signed. Pakistani leaders routinely declare that they are not involved in providing material support for violence in other countries. Yet, this happens all the time and everybody knows about it. There are laws in Pakistan against private militias and yet they openly parade with their weapons in the streets.

    Even though US has supported Pakistani leadership, Pakistan has never been a US puppet. In fact, the military dictator who worked with US to wage jihad against Afghanistan initially refused to do so until US agreed to pay billions and to provide advanced weaponry. In legal terms you might consider it an “arms” length negotiation where each side got what it wanted.

    Finally, I visited the links you provided to buttress your claim that CIA supports BLA. Some links are from sites which have no credibility at all such as a forum on defence.pk and pakobserver.net, In one particular case, it is an article by the same author (Lt Col Zaheerul Hassan) in two different places pushing the same idea without a scintilla of evidence. Some of the other links have nothing to do with CIA activities in Baluchistan at all.

    It is paradoxical that to prove your point you have had to quote bigoted right wing authors, of unknown antecedents. Just as no individual is perfect, no nation is perfect either. But to ask perfection from US while absolving Pakistan, a nation that has yet to even acknowledge the murder and rape of millions is a terrible shame.

  • Good post, are you seling links from your website? I’m interested…

  • A wise man once said,”It’s not war, It’s Pest Control.”

  • Nice posting. A few correction though:
    1- I lived in Peshawar/Pakistan during the 1980s. The photo was taken in Kybar in early 1982. The individual in the photo is a Pakistani paramilitary personal; (they still have this same uniform)not someone by the name of Tim Osman (or Osama Bin Laden.) Osama did not come to Afghanistan until 1983 (roughly.)
    2- Balochis are divided between Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Baloch are Sunni Muslims. Pashtuns and Balochis have been very close to each other throughout the history. Therfore, they are ethnically and religously align with Afghanistan (Suni/Pashtun); religously align with Pakistan but ethnically against Pakistan domination (Sunni/Punjabi); and obviously ethnically and religously against Iran (Shia/Persian.)
    CIA and MI6 support for the Balochis is geared more toward Iran than Pakistan.

  • Thank you, Tariq, for your clarifications.

  • The indians should rather be given a charge of afghanistan in order to speed up insurgency there so do pakistan enter into back yard if india and set its feet firm to create insurgency there through bhutan,nepal nagaland and not the last the KASHMIR.

    THE INDIA THE PAST has created insurgency in east pakistan through terrorists acts tried to subjugate srilanka and maldives by sending mercenries there. Now the India is funding Talibans and baluch insurgency . paksistan should not wait and go for tit for tait response.
    WRT to US the amount of sacrifices pakistan have done no country would have done the same still they are thankless. its well said by LINCOLN its is bad to be US enemy but worst to be its friend the Us policy makers have today proved THat . Pakistan in tooday’s US LED WAR has SUFFERED more than 350000 civilian casualties.
    now its turn of the INDIANS after pakisatan get ready, and taste friendship of US.

  • “I’ve gone ahead and bookmarked http://stuartbramhall.aegauthorblogs.com/2011/03/07/our-cia-freedom-fighters-in-pakistan at Digg.com so my friends can see it too. I simply used Our CIA “Freedom Fighters” in Pakistan @ The Most Revolutionary Act as the entry title in my Digg.com bookmark, as I figured if it is good enough for you to title your blog post that, then you probably would like to see it bookmarked the same way

  • I dont know where Indians get involved in this comment section frankly. Anyway, a lot of Hindus here commented on pakistan instigating three wars with India let me correct that, in 1965 India lunched an attack on the sialkot sector to start the war, 1971 Pakistan presented evidence of Mukti bahni rebels in then pakistan being trained in Indian bengal, in kargil NO DOUGHT pakistan insitagated the conflict but the conflict has tobe looked at the incursion into Siachen by India? the Kargil occupation was planned to serve as a bargaining chip against indian agression into Siachen only not an aggression to land grab parts of India, again indians besides this point need to look at geography and line of control in 1948 the Dras kargil mountain range was PART of pakistani kashmir NOT India, so assuming the conflict was not a leverage against Sianchen we are still right!.

    Now, CIA operations in Balochistan, I sincerely believe the CIA and M16 are involved, dont think Indian involvement is as heavy as Pakistan believes but the India are part of this common interest group for sure.

    Someone also mentioned the fact that there are NO sindhis and balochis in the army……let em correct the facts:

    Pakistan population: 180 Million
    Punjabis are: 117 million (65%)
    Pakhtuns: 27 million (15%)
    Sindhis: 30 million (16.6%)
    Balochistan: 4.5 Million (2.5%)
    Azad Kashmir (Pakistan): 4 million.(2%)

    Now Pakistans Armed forces totals:

    Fighting forces: 650 Thousand
    Punjabis: 374000 (57.54%) Under representeed
    Pashtuns: 129000 (19.84%)Over
    Sindhis: 100,000 (14.39%) Under
    Azad Kashmir: 30,000 (4.66%) Over
    Baloch: 17,000 (2.62%) Slightly over but propotional

    Look at this breakdown and tell me where the decrepency is then we can talk. Truth is media misrepresents the picture entirely! development in the area is because the sardars in the area do not want so, pakistan wants to built universities they dont allow it, pakistan wants to build roads they dont allow that either, truth is majority of baloch are patriotric citizens of Pakistan only the Khan of kalat has issues who by the way DOES NOT EVEN LIVE IN PAKISTAN but Afghanistan hint hint….for your readers! who is supporting him to seperate from us?. pakistans baloch are proud and patriotic! period.

  • This is March 2013 and Baluchistan could not be made to breakaway from Pakistan. So far the Pakistan Government have been able to defend their territorial integrity pretty well.

  • That’s not for want of trying, Arshad. I think Pakistan made an excellent call (following Raymond Davis’s arrest) for the expulsion of all CIA agents operating out of US embassies. They have also positioned themselves really well in the current peace negotiations with the Afghan Taliban.

    The whole US strategy in the Middle East and Central Asia was bankrupt to begin with. I think a lot of people in the Pentagon are beginning to realize this.

  • [...] Alex posted about this interesting story. Here is a small section of the postDuring the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan (1979-89), the CIA funding and training of Mujahideen freedom fighters led by Saudi businessman Tim Osman (his CIA name – most Americans know him as Osama bin Laden) was also well-publicized. … [...]

  • [...] Our CIA “Freedom Fighters” in Pakistan stuartbramhall [...]

  • [...] to report on any of this. I blog about this at “Our CIA freedom fighters in Pakistan” Our CIA “Freedom Fighters” in Pakistan @ The Most Revolutionary Act _______________ A woman of Dr Bramhall stature commenting that is a brilliant post speaks volumes [...]

  • [...] http://stuartbramhall.aegauthorblogs.com/2011/03/07/our-cia-freedom-fighters-in-pakistan/ This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. ← Kosovo’s Dirty Secrets LikeBe the first to like this post. [...]

  • [...] Given the CIA’s historic links with Unita, their historic opposition to the MPLA and the role of CIA-funded foundations, such as National Endowment for Democracy (NED), United States Agency for International Development, and Center for Applied Nonviolent Strategies (CANVAS) in funding and training other “Arab Spring” activists (see Smoking Gun: US Role in Arab Spring, it’s hard to believe the CIA doesn’t have their sticky fingers in Angola’s “Arab Spring,” as well. The Agency also finds separatist movements hard to resist, especially those in regions suitable for cocaine or heroin trafficking (as in Kosovo and Balochistan – see Our CIA Freedom Fighters in Pakistan). [...]