Posted on 11/10/2009 12:31:20 PM PST by An_Indian
Intel team returns home after US snub
CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA, TNN 11 November 2009, 01:00am IST
WASHINGTON/NEW DELHI: In a show of miscommunication if not outright discord between Washington and New Delhi, an Indian intelligence team returned home on Tuesday after being denied access to question two Pakistani expatriates accused of plotting terrorist attacks in India.
The Indian team had rushed to the US after the FBI last month apprehended Dave Headley alias Daood Gilani and Rana Tawassur in hopes of questioning them about their links to Pakistani terrorist organizations outlined in the FBI affidavit, and the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. But after cooling their heels in Washington DC for nearly a week while US authorities processed their request, the Indian side was told the two suspects could not be questioned by outside agencies under US laws. The team did not even go to Chicago, whether the two accused are in detention.
New Delhi is furious at the snub, but put on a smiley face, ascribing the setback to "procedural" and "bureaucratic" delays. While acknowledging that US authorities did share a "fair amount of information" on the case while the team was in Washington DC, sources said the US attitude contrasted sharply with the kind of cooperation India offered to the US investigators in the 26/11 Mumbai case.
The FBI was allowed to question Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the lone survivor of the jihadi squad that killed 172 people, for nine hours last December. Subsequently, an FBI agent also testified in the trial court via videolink.
It appears that the Indian team was not accorded the same courtesies, attesting to a long history of spotty cooperation going back to the Mumbai bomb blasts of 1993. Asked why the Indian intel team was rushed to the US without first ascertaining if there will be full access, sources said events were moving very fast and New Delhi did not want to waste any time in getting people in place to get as much information as possible.
But Washington had legal issues in terms of proving access to the accused, something which the FBI liaison at the US Embassy in New Delhi does not appear to have foreseen. The FBI had not returned calls seeking the US version of the snafu at the time of writing and the Indian Embassy declined to comment on the matter.
There is also suspicion in the intelligence analysts' community that Washington is trying to protect its lines of cooperation with Islamabad at the expense of India, in the process obfuscating Pakistan's complicity in terrorism. In the FBI affidavit, US investigators have named Ilyas Kashmiri, one of the Pakistani contacts of the accused Headley and Rana, but left two other contacts unnamed, describing them merely as LeT Member A and Individual A. Suspicion in spook circles is Individual A belongs to the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI and the US is trying not to embarrass Pakistan, whose cooperation it needs to carry forward its war on al-Qaida, Taliban and allied extremists.
Such kid glove treatment of Pakistan at the expense of Indian blood has been criticized by two scholars in a recent paper. "Too often US officials have sought to downplay instances when Pakistan has failed to cooperate with US counterterrorism efforts in order to protect other channels of cooperation," Lisa Curtis and Ted Bromund of the Heritage Foundation said in a paper released Monday. "The US and the UK need to convince Pakistan that cases against terrorists who attack India should be treated no differently than cases against terrorists who act in other parts of the world."
Seeking "consistent policies toward Pakistan that hold the country's officials accountable for stopping all support to terrorists," their paper said "connections among al-Qaeda, the Kashmir-focused terrorist groups, and the Pakistani security establishment are troubling and pose a direct security threat to Britain, the US, and other Western democracies. The US and Britain should continue to pressure the Pakistan government to shut down Pakistan-based terrorist groups, such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, which increasingly threaten Pakistan's own stability."
"The US and the UK also need to address forthrightly Pakistani noncooperation against terrorist targets. Both Washington and London seek counterterrorism partnerships with Pakistan, but they need to be willing to tell their publics when efforts to cooperate with Pakistan fail," they said.
Background story: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2381604/posts
India, please be patient. We’ll kick the loon’s butt back to Chicago or Kenya (same politics and culture) in ‘12.
Not a surprise, I’m sorry to say. Obama has been rude to numerous allies, including the British, French, and Germans. He clearly sides with the Palestinians against Israel, with Russia against Poland and Georgia, and with Pakistan against India.
Add to that a culture that is more concerned about the legal “rights” of Muslim terrorists than the safety of our country and our allies, and it was pretty much a foregone conclusion.
I think that, the way things are, our allies are going to have to look to their own defenses. I trust that they will not break permanently with the U.S., as Turkey seems to have done. But they cannot rely on the U.S. as long as Obama is in charge. They just have to wait, and in the meantime take care of themselves.
Obama is taking the adage, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer” to a whole new level.
He keeps our enemies close and tells our friend to go —— themselves.
Here he is lefties, in all his splendor.
Well, so much for that hope and change.
The glasses of Scotch are being refreshed in Islamabad as the Generals of the Pak Army and ISI laugh their heads off.
Anyway, the sad reality is that those Americans of Indian origin who voted for Obie won’t give a hoot.
The Indians must have been thinking of cooperation along the lines of what they had with Uncle Sam until earlier this year.
The FBI in India saw no problem but DC is a little different now.
2012 might be too late! Its becoming hopeless as time passes. If less than 1 year of this Presidency can cause this much devastation to ties between US and its allies, I shudder to think what will happen in the next 3 years!
Had this been during Pres Bush’s time, Indian Intel would have been given complete access and real-time intelligence sharing would be in place. Now, its back to playing fantasy-diplomacy time! US is back to singing India-Pakistan equal-equal tone again! 8 years of efforts to shore up close ties and strategic relationships down the drain!
“He clearly sides with the Palestinians against Israel,...”
The One currently has a 4% approval rating in Israel, that’s right, 4% approve and 96% disapprove. I heard Chris Cillizza of the WashPo recently admit that Bambi’s approval rating in Israel is “in the single digits.” Pathetic.
God forbid we cooperate with our Allies against these “stressed out” Muzzies.
>.payback for India giving Bush a state dinner
Could the US be this petty now?
FWIW, I think it’s pretty much what the reporter says, fear of exposing Pakistani guiding hand in terror, after all, even the Pakistani Consul General in Chicago has been implicated in expediting visa arrangements for the jihadis.
And heck, forget the Indians, how many American deaths does Pakistan have to be implicated in before we wake up?
Not enough so far, apparently.
I really truly wish I could go on a world tour apologizing for this dingleberry.
The average American no, but Obama is this petty. It was reported that Admin. officials weren't happy that India held this dinner for Bush, and were quite direct in expressing their displeasure to India.
The bad news is that our White House is occupied by one unworthy of the honor. The good news is that we have a long history with many of these allies. I'm sure they have intelligence that informs their thinking far more than what is available to the average American. When our current difficulties are resolved and we once again have freedom-loving leadership, I believe our allies will be right there with us. Seasoned world leaders know the difference between a nation and a figurehead who purports to represent them.
That's my own personal version of hope and change . . .
Well, I meant the USG, but even so, diplomats, statesmen and bureaucracies don’t perform such snubs as a rule.
After all, one would think, this is a terror plot and that should override other considerations.
Even the French Intel service kept their cooperation on terror issues with us while their PM et al were raging against Bush in 02/03.
Bush had a priceless line at that dinner -
Yes, getting the nuclear deal through was tough and we had to break some china to do it.
-Crowd reaction - slightly stunned silence at first, then cheers, laughter and applause at the the cheekiness of Bush’s comment.
The US isn't that petty; an individual may well be this petty and petulant. Who could it be? Mmmm, mmm, mmm.
Hmmm??? So , the whole world's gonna love us if we just elect the magic negro?
Who's the freak going to piss off next?
Not to quibble too much, but this was an action of the USG.
Obviously the tone was set for this snub from the top.
Yet, it surprises me because the FBI and the Indians have been working rather closely for quite a long time now, since the 1993 blasts in Bombay that killed over 300.
Well, Obama did tell a Pakistani paper he reads Urdu poetry (implication, in Urdu) and knows how to cook Pakistani dishes like keema (ground meat) and dal (lentils), both a regular fixture on Indian menus as well.
I see Il Douche has found yet ANOTHER ALLY to alienate.
This was disgraceful. Thanks for posting it.
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