The Battle for Pakistan
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5 He passed away in 2015 after having retired from the army and starting a not-for-profit foundation in the name of his late father, the brilliant, humorous Urdu poet, Syed Zamir Jafri. Zamir Jafri, who also came from Jhelum, our home district, was a classmate of my father at Zamindara College, Gujrat. General Zamir worked closely with CIA Station Chief Robert Grenier also. Grenier refers to him under the name Imran in his book 88 Days to Kandahar.
6 Interview with Amb. Richard Boucher, Washington DC, 14 June 2016, and with Ambassador Anne Patterson, Washington DC, 8 January 2016.
7 Faisalabad, a city in the Punjab, formerly known as Lyallpur, was founded in 1890 and named after Mr Lyall Grant’s great-great uncle, Sir James Lyall, the lieutenant governor of the Punjab, who built the world’s largest canal system that transformed the formerly desiccated Punjab into India’s breadbasket. The original town was laid out, like Khartoum, along the lines of the Union flag. See: Isambard Wilkinson, Notebook: ‘The Sun Hasn’t Yet Set on the British Raj’, 5 October 2006, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3632887/Notebook.html
8 Amb. Thomson, later Sir Adam Thomson, was educated at Trinity College, University of Cambridge, and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. His father Sir John Thomson was a former High Commissioner to India, and even in his retirement years played a vigorous role in trying to build relations between India and Pakistan from his perch at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Both were a great help to me in my work at the Atlantic Council on ‘waging peace’ in South Asia.
9 WikiLeaks SECRET/NO FORN cable of 11/4/2007 from Amb. Anne Paterson to the Secretary of State. Dawn, ‘2007: US Protested “Thuggish Implementation” of Musharraf Emergency’, 31 May 2011, http://www.dawn.com/news/633237/2007-us-protested-thuggish-implementation-of-musharraf-emergency
10 Earlier in our exchange, I raised with her a question about her personal safety and asked if she had body armour. Mr Zardari responded that they had a bulletproof vest at Bilawal House, the party citadel, in Karachi. I said that this was probably outdated by now and the danger would be imminent upon arrival at the airport. I suggested they look into using a product similar to Dragonskin that was custom designed for women too and provided protection with a lightweight material up to the neck. Later, I connected both Bhutto and Zardari with the company producing Dragonskin via e-mail. The company was prepared to fly to Dubai to outfit her with the protective gear. However, it needed a licence from the US government to export the protective clothing, and that could only be obtained via the Pakistan government’s application. Bhutto later sent me a message that she had decided against that since she did not wish to ask Musharraf for any favours. After her caravan was attacked in Karachi, Mr Zardari suggested he would try to get body armour via the UAE.
11 In fact, Mahmood, an American citizen, was also rewarded later by Zardari with the honorary title of Ambassador at Large.
12 Bibi is the polite way many friends and colleagues referred to Bhutto, that doubled as the Urdu equivalent of ‘lady’ as well as her initials BB. She often signed her emails as Bibi.
13 Email from Maj. Gen. Mahmud Ali Durrani.
14 Interview with Gen. Durrani on telephone, 30 November 2016.
15 Asim Tanveer, ‘Pakistan Blasts Kill 115 as Bhutto Returns’, 18 October 2007, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-idUSISL24512920071018.
16 Mark Siegel, ‘Face the Truth, Musharraf ’, New York Daily News, 21 March 2012.
17 ‘Last Speech of Shahid Benazir Bhutto: Hope Is Lost’, Video, Daily Motion, http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xyvkk2_last-speech-of-shaheed-benazir-bhutto-hope-is-lost_news
18 Medical report of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, hand-dated 28 December 2007 and signed by seven doctors. See: ‘Documents: Medical Examiners’ Report on Benazir Bhutto’, Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/articles/bhutto_medicalreport_010108.html
19 Newswire, ‘Bhutto Aide Says Bathed Body, Saw Bullet Wound’, Outlook, 29 December 2007, https://www.outlookindia.com/newswire/story/bhutto-aide-says-bathed-body-saw-bullet-wound/530981?utm_source=bottom_floater
20 Heraldo Munoz, Getting Away with Murder: Benazir Bhutto’s Assassination and the Politics of Pakistan (New York and London: W.W. Norton & Co., 2014), p. 77.
21 Op. cit., Patterson.
22 This cable from Patterson to Washington reported on the condolence call by Patterson on Zardari. It mentioned that Zardari shared with her a copy of the one-page so-called will of Benazir Bhutto handing over the party to him. Zardari also sought ‘U.S. blessing for his leadership’. See: https://wikileaks.org/plusd/pdf/?df=96891
23 BBC News, ‘Bhutto’s Son Named as Successor’, 30 December 2007, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7164968.stm
24 In a conversation with me in his office, he referred to my book Crossed Swords that he had read and indicated that he wanted to follow the lead of my late brother and Army Chief Gen. Asif Nawaz, who had attempted to professionalize the army after years of martial law.
25 WikiLeaks, ‘Kayani Withdraws Officers from Civil Departments’, Public Library of US Diplomacy, 13 February 2008, https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/08ISLAMABAD651_a.html
26 Background interview with senior US military commander with long experience in the region.
27 Indian Express, ‘PPP Formed Alliance with PML-N to End Musharraf ’s rule: Zardari’, 7 April 2012, http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/ppp-formed-alliance-with-pmln-to-end-musharrafs-rule-zardari/933798/
28 CNN, ‘Pakistan Leaders Agree on Coalition’, http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/02/21/pakistan/index.html?iref=nextin
29 Saeed Shah, ‘Pervez Musharraf Resigns as President of Pakistan’, Guardian, 18 August 2008.
30 I ran across one of these Pakistani facilitators in the Serena Hotel and he told me of his mission for the Americans.
31 In an interview with Nadeem Malik on Samaa TV, Musharraf claimed that he had received ‘financial assistance’ from King Abdul Aziz back in 2009. However, Musharraf avoided disclosing the details, saying that it was a ‘private affair’ so he would not go into details.
‘Shah Abdullah was like a brother to me,’ Musharraf said, adding that they had family relations and he even had access to the residence of King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz. ‘I was the only one with whom he used to smoke,’ said Musharraf while trying to cement his claim.
Musharraf claimed that no one could prove that he had purchased any property abroad while enjoying power in Pakistan. ‘I would be held accountable, if I had make property while being in power. But I went abroad in 2009 and then established the property in my individual capacity, so it is my private matter,’ he said.
Musharraf offered a different explanation about the receipt of money from the Saudi King:
He said he stayed in London in the house of a friend Brigadier Niaz for six months which is located in a posh area of the city because he had no money to pay for the rent.
The former president disclosed that after a few months of leaving Pakistan he went to Saudi Arabia to perform Umra and King Abdullah then asked him where he was staying. Musharraf said King Abdullah considered him as a younger brother and gave him a big amount of money by opening a bank account in his name in London. He said a team of Saudi officials came to him at midnight and got his signatures on papers to open the bank account.
The former military ruler said that he used to deliver lectures abroad and receive payments ranging between $100,000 and $150,000 per lecture.
See: Ansar Abbasi, ‘Musharraf Admits to Untaxed Rs 1 Bn in Foreign Accounts’, News International, 9 November 2016, https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/163506-Musharraf-admits-to-untaxed-Rs1-bn-in-foreing-accounts
32 ‘Former Premier Sharif Quits Pakistan’s Ruling Coalition’, Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty, 25 August 2008, http://www.rferl.org/a/Former_Premier_Sharif_Quits_Pakistans_Ruling_Coalition/1193720.html
33 Helene Cooper and Mark Mazzetti, ‘UN Envoy’s Ties to Pakistani Are Questioned’, New
York Times, 25 August 2008.
34 Zalmay Khalilzad, The Envoy (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2016), p. 54. Interestingly, Khalilzad ended up being appointed as a special representative of President Trump to handle Afghan reconciliation, and effectively returned to the region to try to coerce or cajole the Pakistanis to cooperate in that effort.
35 Steve Coll, Directorate S (Penguin Random House, New York, 2018), pp. 376–77.
36 South Asia Terrorism Portal, ‘Fatalities in Terrorist Violence in Pakistan 2000–2019’, http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/pakistan/database/casualties.htm
37 Umer Mahasin, ‘Analyzing & Visualizing Terrorist Attacks in Pakistan & India (2002–2015)’, Towards Data Science, 18 July 2017, https://towardsdatascience.com/analyzing-visualizing-terrorist-attacks-in-pakistan-india-2002-2015-24a03424f5e3
38 CNN, ‘Bhutto Widower Zardari Elected Pakistan’s New President’, 7 September 2008, http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/09/06/pakistan.presidential.election/
39 Maqsood Termizi, ‘Interior Ministry Gets ISI, IB Control’, Nation, 27 July 2008.
40 Hamid Mir, ‘Pakistan Politics: How Decision Regarding ISIS Was Reversed So Soon’, Overseas Pakistani Friend blog, http://www.opfblog.com/3389/pakistan-politics-how-decision-regarding-isi-was-reversed-so-soon/
41 Ibid.
42 Shuja Nawaz, ‘Who Controls Pakistan’s Security Forces’, Special Report 297, United States Institute of Peace, December 2011, p. 4.
43 Shuja Nawaz, ‘Ungovernable’, American Interest 7, no. 1, 1 September 2011.
44 Adnan Aamir, ‘Corrupt Balochistan Assembly Members Are a Major Part of the Province’s Problems’, Nation, 21 August 2015.
45 Bill Roggio, ‘Pakistan Signs Sharia Bill into Law’, FDD’s Long War Journal, 13 April 2009.
46 Ishaan Tharoor, ‘WikiLeaks: The Saudis’ Close but Strained Ties with Pakistan’, TIME, 6 December 2010, http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2035347,00.html
47 Private communication from Pakistani diplomat.
48 HT Correspondent, ‘10 Things David Headley Told NIA about Mumbai Terror Attacks’, Hindustan Times, 8 February 2016.
49 Ellen Barry and Hari Kumar, ‘2008 Mumbai Attacks Plotter Says Pakistan’s Spy Agency Played a Role’, New York Times, New Delhi, 8 February 2016.
50 Husain Haqqani, India Vs Pakistan: Why Can’t We Just Be Friends?, Juggernaut Books, India, 2016.
51 Suhasini Haidar, ‘26/11 Planners “Our People” Says Former ISI Chief ’, Hindu, 10 May 2016.
52 Salman Masood, ‘Pakistan’s Spy Chief to Visit India’, New York Times, 28 December 2008.
53 Interview with Maj. Gen. (retd) Mahmud Ali Durrani, on telephone from Alexandria, VA, 30 November 2016. He was in Islamabad.
54 Interestingly, it was willing to sacrifice its own in that quest. Apart from Durrani, a second NSA general found himself on the skids, and even the role of the NSA was removed in 2018 when Lt. Gen. Nasser Khan Janjua resigned as NSA. The new government of Imran Khan eliminated the office of the NSA without much public debate or publicity most likely because the military thought the role was redundant.
55 WikiLeaks document, https://wikileaks.org/plusd/pdf/?df=61598
56 Interview with Aitzaz Ahsan at his home in Islamabad, 29 February 2016.
57 Brig. Hayat, a tall bespectacled US- and UK-trained artillery officer with a commanding presence, was essentially chef de cabinet for Kayani. He ran the office with great efficiency and a serious demeanour, though privately he had a wry sense of humour. Kayani later created a new post for a major general to be DG-SD or Director General Staff Duties to manage office systems and processes for the army chief. Hayat was promoted and then sent to command 8 Division in Sialkot, and later promoted to three stars to command a corps in Bahawalpur. That positioned him as the senior-most general when Kayani’s successor, Raheel Sharif, completed his three-year tenure. After Bahawalpur, he was sent by Sharif to head the SPD that was responsible for Pakistan’s nuclear assets, before being promoted to four stars as chairman of the JCS Committee.
58 ‘Gilani Announces Restoration of Deposed Chief Judge’, Dawn, 16 March 2009.
59 ‘2009: Army’s Role in Long March Conclusion’, Dawn, 5 June 2011, http://www.dawn.com/news/print/634414.
60 Isobel Villiers, ‘What Is Zardari Doing at Chequers’, Spectator, 7 August 2010.
61 Private conversation with a senior Pakistani military official.
62 I met Jolie at an event in September at the Newseum, Washington DC, before she left to meet the UN Secretary General on Pakistan, and suggested she ask him to appoint a special representative to seek and coordinate assistance. She took to the idea and did so, resulting in faster action by the Secretary General. A few days later, he appointed Rauf Angin Soysal of Turkey as his special envoy for assistance to Pakistan.
63 Nathaniel Gronewold, ‘After the Pakistan Floods, Why Relief Help Was Slow to Arrive’, Scientific American, 16 October 2010, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/in-pakistan-floods-scale/
64 US Department of State, Country Reports on Terrorism 2010, https://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2010/170258.htm
65 National Counterterrorism Center, 2010 Report on Terrorism (Washington DC: Office of the Director of National Intelligence, NCTC, 30 April 2011), https://www.dni.gov/files/documents/2010_report_on_terrorism.pdf
66 Sadruddin Hashwani, Truth Always Prevails: A Memoir (India: Penguin Portfolio; UK: Penguin Books, 2014), pp. 204–16.
67 He conveyed this vision to me in a brief conversation on the telephone from London on 24 September 2016, when I spoke with him about recording an interview for this book. He ended that brief exchange by asking to see the topics or questions I wished to cover in the interview and then promised to set a date for the actual interview. I immediately shared the list of topics and questions. Despite efforts to follow up, the interview never took place.
68 Nawaz, ‘Ungovernable’.
69 Shuja Nawaz, Who Controls Pakistan’s Security Forces, Special Report 299, US Institute of Peace, December 2011, p. 5.
70 Background briefing to the author.
71 Human Rights Watch, ‘Pakistan: Extrajudicial Killings by Army in Swat’, 16 July 2010, https://www.hrw.org/news/2010/07/16/pakistan-extrajudicial-executions-army-swat
12 Punjab was a storied regiment to which my grandfather belonged. He had fought in the North West Frontier in 1902 and 1908 and then in Mesopotamia, including the attempt to break the siege of Kut, and in Europe and other places in World War I and World War II.
72 US Department of State, Bureau of Terrorism, ‘Country Reports on Terrorism 2011’, released April 2012, p. 142.
73 Shuja Nawaz, Learning by Doing: The Pakistan Army’s Experience with Counterinsurgency (Washington DC: Atlantic Council, February 2011), p. 20, http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/publications/reports/learning-by-doing-the-pakistan-army-s-experience-with-counterinsurgency
74 Qadeer Tanoli, ‘Peanuts for NACTA This Year Too’, Express Tribune, 29 April 2018, https://tribune.com.pk/story/1698044/1-peanuts-nacta-year/
75 ‘Chapter 5. Institutions and Leaders’, in Pakistani Public Opinion Ever More Critical of U.S., Pew Research Center, 27 June 2012, http://www.pewglobal.org/2012/06/27/chapter-5-institutions-and-leaders/
76 While he was DG-ISI, he had begun constructing a retirement home in the DHA near Morgah in Rawalpindi, a modernistic villa on a spur overlooking the Soan river, just below the home of his colleague and successor at the ISI, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha. It was a very visible and much talked-about house in Rawalpindi. Similarly, his interest in golf led to talk of another home in the middle of a golf course in Lahore. But the critics lacked specific proof of corruption on his part or that he colluded with his brothers in their business activities or forced the government to favour them. This issue persisted beyond his retirement.
77 News International, ‘I Begged Kayani, Pasha to Accept Extensions: Gilani’, 27 December 2011.
1 Sir Walter Scott began wr
iting his long poem in 1806 after a publisher offered him the grand sum of 1,000 guineas as an advance (a guinea being 21 shillings). The poem is a complicated love story with many twists and turns, and deceptions, much like the modern-day US–Pakistan relationship. It concludes with the battle at Flodden Field. That story, unlike the US–Pakistan story, has a happy ending. The first quarto edition (about 9 ½ x 12 inches) of 2,000 copies priced at one-and-a-half guineas each sold out in one month. Twelve octavo editions (about 6 x 9 inches) then sold out between 1808 and 1825, a roaring bestseller by all accounts.
2 Op. cit. Pew Survey 2009. https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2009/08/13/pakistani-public-opinion/
3 History.com, ‘2005 Kashmir Earthquake’, http://www.history.com/topics/kashmir-earthquake
4 Interview with Vice Admiral Mike LeFever, 27 October 2016.
5 Interview with Lt. Col. Eliot Evans, Washington DC, November 2016.
6 I used to keep one of those caps that he later gave me as a souvenir in my office at the Atlantic Council.
7 Tahir Andrabi and Jishnu Das, ‘In Aid We Trust: Hearts and Minds and the Pakistan Earthquake of 2005’, World Bank, 2010.
8 Jishnu Das, ‘The Black Hole of Pakistan: Are Billions of Dollars of Aid Going to Waste?’ Foreign Policy, 7 October 2010.
9 Richard Wite, ‘Does Humanitarian Aid Improve America’s Image’, Pew Research Center, 6 March 2012.
10 On 9 January 2009, I formally joined the Atlantic Council as the founding director of its South Asia Center after having been associated with the task force on Pakistan since the summer of 2008.
11 This attention-grabbing opening sentence is ascribed to Harlan Ullman, an Atlantic Council colleague and military strategist, who is also widely credited with the authorship of the phrase ‘shock and awe’ popularized by the massive US air attack on Iraq, as an approach to force an enemy to give up without a fight.
12 Saving Afghanistan: An Appeal and Plan for Urgent Action (Washington DC: Atlantic Council, March 2008).
13 Jones, a veritable poster boy for the Marine Corps, with his statuesque bearing and ruggedly handsome looks, comes from a family of Marines. His father and his uncle were both Marines, and his father’s World War II experience in Europe led him to work in Europe for some fifteen years in Paris, where Jones spent his early childhood. He became fluent in French and learned to appreciate not only Europe but also the issues that separated Americans from their French hosts.