Challenges for the new Government

Gen Mirza Aslam Beg

The people of Pakistan have succeeded in defeating the 'conspiracy of regime change', through their landmark mandate of 18th February, which, hopefully would lead to the establishment of a sovereign parliament, which will be faced with the daunting task of defeating another dangerous conspiracy emanating from Afghanistan, which started with the occupation of Afghanistan in October 2001, when a large intelligence set-up was created at Jabal-us-Seraj, north of Kabul, to provide the much needed intelligence to the occupation forces. The areas in the north from Herat to Mazar-e-Sharif to Badakhshan are virtually under the control of the warlords. In the south, areas bordering Pakistan are practically controlled by the Taliban and a 'free for all' territory for the smugglers, narcotic dealers, conspirators, intelligence agencies and the NGOs, to operate with impunity.

US and India signed the Strategic Partnership Deal in 2005, with the declared objectives to "contain and curb the rising military and economic power of China and the increasing threat of Islamic extremism in the region." In this respect, both countries achieved harmony of interests in pursuit of these objectives. However, as the military situation worsened, attention got focused on the establishment of a large intelligence network in Afghanistan, to destabilize Pakistan and other neighbouring countries such as, China, Russia, Central Asian States and Iran. It was at this time, that the US state department declared that "Afghanistan, which has been part of Central Asia geo-politically, henceforth, will be considered as part of South Asia." The implicit purpose was to bring Afghanistan, within easy reach of India, to use it as the base for intelligence network against the neighbouring countries.

We have enough information to identify this intelligence network inside Afghanistan, to accurately determine the dimensions of this Great Game. The nerve center is at Jabal-us-Seraj, manned and operated by CIA, Raw, Mossad, MI-6 and BND (German intelligence) . It's a huge set-up with concrete buildings, antennas and all the modern electronic gadgetry one can conceive of. Its out-posts are Sarobi and Kandahar against Pakistan; Faizabad, against China; Mazar-e-Sharif, against Russia and Central Asian States and Herat against Iran.

Against Pakistan, Sarobi is the nerve center, headed by an Indian General officer, who also commands the Border Road Organization (BRO). Its forward bases are, Ghazni, Khowst, Gardeyz, Jalalabad, Asadabad, Wakhan and Faizabad. BRO has built an all weather road from Sarobi to Asadabad to Faizabad. Sarobi network, targets the province of NWFP, Pakistan. Dissidents from Pakistan, are trained at Sarobi for missions inside NWFP. Wakhan salient has been infested with dozens of electronic outposts, covering Pakistan, China, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Against Balochistan province, Kandahar has its forward bases at Lashkargah and Nawah.

The dissidents from Balochistan are trained at Lashkargah, for undertaking missions in Balochistan as well as in support of the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA). One of their tasks is to target Chinese working in the province, particularly at Gwadar, Sandak and Hab. The American anchorages, on the Pakistani coast at Jiwani and Kalamat (The facilities at Jiwani and Kalamat were provided by Pakistan, as logistic support bases to the Americans for operation in Afghanistan, but the same are now being used, to destabilize Balochistan and Iran.) jointly plan operations with BLA inside Balochistan. They also use the Pakistani out-posts at Mand, for operations inside Iran. The American warships in the Arabian Sea and their intelligence base in Muscat, provide the back-up support.

The set-up at Faizabad (Badakhshan) is against China, and holds over 400xpersonnel mainly Muslim soldiers, engineers and workers from India. It serves as the training camp for the Chinese dissidents from the Xinjiang province of China. Indian Ulemas impart motivational education, giving the impression, that the entire out-fit at Faizabad was run by Pakistanis. The recently acquired facility for military deployment by India, across the border in Tajikistan at Kalai Kumli, adds a meaningful capability to India to operate inside Tajikistan, as well as Uzbekistan.

Against Russia, the intelligence base at Mazar-e-Sharif is run jointly by CIA, RAW, Mossad and BND. Chechnyan dissidents and agents from Turkmenistan are trained for operations in these countries. Rasheed Dostam and Ahmad Zia Masood are very active supporters of such activities in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Against Iran, the forward base at Herat and Farah are manned by CIA, RAW and Mossad for subversive activities inside Iran. Jointly operating from these bases and the bases inside Pakistan, such as Kalamat, Jiwani and Mand, they have been able to undertake terrorists actions inside Iran, killing a number of security forces personnel. The terrorist organization named Jandullah has been used for conduct of such operations inside Iran.

All the main outposts of this network have been granted the status of 'Consulates' to provide diplomatic cover for their activities, resulting into the worst kind of 'Terrorism Through Consensus', by the so-called civilized nations, in occupation of Afghanistan and the brutal violation of Afghanistan' s sovereignty for this purpose. It is surprising that after so much of suffering, as a result of this conspiracy, the government of Pakistan has woken up now, to say that "foreign hands are involved in the recent bomb blasts and suicide attacks. To defeat this conspiracy, is the daunting task, the new government and the sovereign parliament would be facing and we all hope, it will stand-up to the challenge.