Pakistan's Intelligence Agencies Are "Playing Both Sides" To Get Massive US Government Aid

Here is a view of the various intelligence agencies in the Pakistani bureaucracy. I will bet that one or more of them know where Bin Laden and his management team are. They also know how to find all of the Taliban leadership. Why don't they act on this information? One part of the answer is they have some sympathy for these radical Muslims. The other part of the answer is they know they would lose billions of dollars in US aid they now receive and billions more they are going to receive. The losses of life inside Pakistan are considered collateral damage or necessary sacrifices for the perceived greater good.

Overview Of Intelligence Services:

Pakistan has three main intelligence services, Intelligence Bureau (IB), Military Intelligence (MI) & Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The common goal of these agencies is to look after interests and preserve national security of Pakistan on both external and internal fronts.

Intelligence Bureau (IB)

Primary job of Intelligence Bureau(IB) is tomonitor politicians, political activists, suspected terrorists, and suspected foreign intelligence agents.The IB keeps tabs on political operatives from countries it considers hostile to Pakistan's interests.Intelligence Bureau(IB) is headed byDirector General Intelligence Bureauand is part ofthe Interior Ministry of Pakistan.IBreports directly to the Prime Minister's office .

Military Intelligence (MI)

Military intelligence is tasked with counterinsurgency operations, identifying and eliminating sleeper cells, foreign agents and other anti Pakistani elements within Pakistan. Additional functions involve monitoring high level military and political leaders and safe guarding critical facilities such as military and non-military installations. MI also has limited external role as well.

Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)

ISI is one of the best and very well organized intelligence agency in the world. It was founded in 1948. In 1950 it was officially given the task to safe guard Pakistani interests and national security inside and outside the country.

The ISI is tasked with collection of of foreign and domestic intelligence; co-ordination of intelligence functions of the three military services; surveillance over its cadre, foreigners, the media, politically active segments of Pakistani society, diplomats of other countries accredited to Pakistan and Pakistani diplomats serving outside the country; the interception and monitoring of communications; and the conduct of covert offensiveand wartimeoperations.

ISI is headquartered in Islamabad and works under a Director General, a serving Lieutenant General of the Pakistan Army. There are three Deputy Director Generals-designated DDG (Political), DDG (External) and DDG (General). The ISI is staffed mainly by personnel deputed from the police,para-military forces and some specialized units of the Army. There areover 25,000 active men on its staff.This figure does not include informants and assets. It is organized into six to eight divisions, which are listed below,

Joint Intelligence X:JIX,serves as the secretariat which co-ordinates and provides administrative support to the other ISI wings and field organizations. It also prepares intelligence estimates and threat assessments.

Joint Intelligence Bureau:JIB, responsible for political intelligence, was the most powerful component of the organization during the late 1980s. The JIB consists of three subsections, with one subsection devoted to operationsinvolvingIndia, other operations involve,anti-terrorismandVIP security. This is the largest part of ISI.

Joint Counter Intelligence Bureau:JCIB,is responsible for field surveillance of Pakistani diplomats stationed abroad,if need be monitoring foreign diplomats,as well as for conducting intelligence operations in the Middle East, South Asia, China, Afghanistan and the Muslim republics of the former Soviet Union.

Joint Intelligence / North: JIN,is responsible for Jammu and Kashmir operations, including monitoring Indian forces deployed within disputed Kashmir.

Joint Intelligence Miscellaneous: JIM, offensive intelligence operationsand war time espionage.

Joint Signal Intelligence Bureau: JSIB, which includes Deputy Directors for Wireless, Monitoring and Photos, operates a chain of signals intelligence collection stations,and provide communication support to its operatives.It aslocollects Intelligence through monitoring of communications channels of neighboring countries. A sizeable number of the staff is from the Army Signal Corps.It is believed that it has its units in Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar.

Joint Intelligence Technical:JIT, not much is know about this section however it is believedthat JITinclude a separate explosives section and a chemical warfare section.