The power of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency

Two articles published shortly after Benazir Bhutto's death (the cause still a mystery) caught my attention.

1. Ken Silverstein, who blogs for Harper’s Magazine at Washinton Babylon, posted "Support for Taliban Missing from Bhutto Obits" on December 29th. Silverstein quotes from Steve Coll's best-seller, Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden: “Benazir Bhutto, who was secretly authorizing the Taliban’s covert aid, did not let the Americans know. She visited Washington in the spring of 1995, met with President Clinton, and promoted the Taliban as a pro-Pakistan force that could help stabilize Afghanistan… During her visit and for many months afterward Bhutto and her aides repeatedly lied to American government officials and members of Congress about the extent of Pakistani military and financial aid to the Taliban… Bhutto had decided it was more important to appease the Pakistani army and intelligence service than to level with her American friends.”

The intelligence service Coll referred to is the Inter-Services Intelligence agency, or ISI. I have Ghost Wars, so I checked the index for references to the ISI. There are 26 separate references, including:

A. Bhutto opposed by, 191-92, 212, 217, 289, 349
B. bin Laden’s collaboration with, 16, 212, 327, 341, 375, 407, 439, 452, 456, 477
C. CIA collaboration with, 11, 63-65, 99, 127, 129, 131-132, 148, 150, 152, 164, 180, 183-84, 191. 207, 208, 211, 213, 217-20, 225, 233-37, 277, 315, 329, 336, 373, 374, 375, 415, 436. 442-43, 505, 508, 513, 516, 551-52,
D. Taliban aided by, 291, 292-94,296, 331, 332, 348, 414. 456, 510, 517, 565.

2. The next item appeared in an e-mail from my election integrity allies at Election Defense Alliance, linking to a McClatchy Newspapers article posted on December 31st, "Bhutto report: Musharraf planned to fix elections": “The day she was assassinated last Thursday, Benazir Bhutto had planned to reveal new evidence alleging the involvement of Pakistan's intelligence agencies in rigging the country's upcoming elections, an aide said Monday.

“Bhutto had been due to meet U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., to hand over a report charging that the military Inter-Services Intelligence agency was planning to fix the polls in the favor of President Pervez Musharraf.”

(symbolic intelligence agent and Pakistan flag: BBC News)

Pulling up the Stone - Patriots at Work

Pulling up stones is hard work! It sounds like what the early settlers needed to do in New Hampshire, clearing the fields so they could be planted with the crops they needed in order to survive.

Why do we need to “pull stone” now? Watch this five minute slideshow, put together by Nancy Tobi (photo), who happens to live in New Hampshire and is active in Democracy for New Hampshire and as Coordinator of the Legislation Working Group of the nationwide Election Defense Alliance (EDA).


I hope you’ll become a “patriot at work “ if you aren’t already.

(photo of Nancy Tobi: : Op Ed News)

My vegetable garden

It was planted yesterday. The primary designer and implementer is my friend, Dan Ashby (blue shirt), who is a co-founder of ElectionDefenseAlliance.org (EDA), the election integrity organization I’m involved with. This is the third year Dan has come to Healdsburg to help me with my garden.

Suggested action items:

1. Plant a garden if you have the space and available water. If you need help, a great source of information is Master Gardeners.

2. Check out the EDA website. There’s a lot of valuable information about voting issues, including the “Halt Holt” (H.R. 811) effort. I urge you to sign up for e-mail alerts. The 2008 election isn’t that far away!