A high-powered judicial commission has asked the heads of Pakistan government, military and intelligence agencies to apologise to the nation for their “ incompetence” in detecting the presence of al- Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in the country. The suggestion made in a report of the judicial panel, formed to probe the death of Laden, is not just stern in its tone but also suggestive of the reluctance of the agencies and leadership to be a part of an international hunt for the world’s most- wanted terrorist.
Power corridors, including the Prime Minister’s house and the general headquarters in Rawalpindi, are abuzz with the accusations that the military, politicians and intelligence agencies of Pakistan failed to track down Osama’s as well as CIA’s operations on their soil.
The principal intelligence agency of the US, under the nose of Pakistan’s military and the ISI, traced Laden to Abbottabad and passed on the information to White House, which sent a team of Navy SEALs on May 2, 2011 to get Laden.
“The presence of a CIA network inside Pakistan tasked to trace bin Laden without the Pakistani establishment’s knowledge was ‘ a case of nothing less than a collective and sustained dereliction of duty by the political, military and intelligence leadership of the country,” the 336- page report states.
Interestingly, neither the Pakistan government nor the heads of military and ISI have reacted to the accusations made by the Abbottabad Commission that consisted of Pakistani investigators. A wave of anger, however, has been felt across the nation after the report was made public by a foreign news channel, Al Jazeera , late on Monday. The report throws light on the private life of Laden in Pakistan soon after the 9/ 11 terror attack in the US and clearly states that the Pakistani intelligence agencies, the army and the political leadership did not know till May 2, 2011 that Laden was living freely in their country.
According to insiders, the revelations have jolted Pakistan’s powerful military that claims a major chunk of the annual budget in the name of defence of the country’s border. Sources told MAIL TODAY that the authorities have briefed new Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif about the situation, who may offer an apology to the nation in the days to come.
The Abbottabad Commission has questioned several dozen officials, including serving military officers, to compile a comprehensive report on Osama’s death.
What was the priority regarding the search for Osama bin Laden ( OBL)? There was no 0real and sustained priority given to the search for OBL.
How did OBL’s compound fail to attract the attention of intelligence and security officials? It is clear that someone... should have noticed, but did not notice anything odd about the compound.
This in itself was an extraordinary example of intelligence and security incompetence. To crown it all, the OBL house was enumerated in a house survey with the comment that it was be- chiragh i. e uninhabited. Since August 2005, there were never less than 25 people living in it. The extent of incompetence, to put it mildly, was astounding if not unbelievable.
Was the failure to track OBL a result of negligence, incompetence or complicity? Connivance at no level can be established even if at some level it cannot be ruled out. Complicity is the most grievous charge... no findings of this can be made. But incompetence and negligence are the most serious charges that can be brought against any institutions, especially those that have national security responsibility.
How did the ISI and agencies completely miss both the OBL and CIA support networks? Although the possibility of some degree of connivance inside or outside the government cannot be entirely discounted, no individual can be identified as guilty of connivance.
It was probably a case of negligence, inefficiency and incompetence rather than complicity.
But for an institution such as the ISI, negligence and incompetence are far more serious charges than possible connivance by rogue elements.
