In a trail of startling revelations, former CIA officer John Kiriakou said the tensions between India and Pakistan after the December 2001 attacks on the Indian Parliament made the US intelligence community believe that the two nuclear-armed neighbours were on the brink of a war, particularly after the military standoff under Operation Parakram.
Kiriakou, who served in the CIA for 15 years as an analyst, was speaking to news agency ANI, where he said CIA officials working in Pakistan had their families evacuated as they anticipated the two countries were going to go on a war, adding that the evacuation of CIA officials’ families from conflict zones is a common practice.
Also read: Ex-CIA officer claims Pervez Musharraf ‘handed over Pakistan’s nuclear control to US’
Kiriakou recalled a conversation with another young female CIA official who was surprised to see an empty cafeteria in the US embassy in Islamabad. “I said they have been evacuated because India and Pakistan are going on war like any minute now,” Kiriakou narrated the conversation with his colleague and pointing to her that the helicopter in the parking lot had been deployed to rescue them.
Kiriakou added how the US deputy secretary shuttled between India and Pakistan and negotiated to de-escalate the situation. He said the US was focused on Al-Qaeda and Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks, so they didn’t focus on the unfolding situation in India.
{{/usCountry}}Kiriakou added how the US deputy secretary shuttled between India and Pakistan and negotiated to de-escalate the situation. He said the US was focused on Al-Qaeda and Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks, so they didn’t focus on the unfolding situation in India.
{{/usCountry}}Also read: ‘Pakistan will lose any conventional war with India’: Former CIA officer John Kiriakou
In the hour-long interview with ANI, Kiriakou also claimed that the US “purchased” former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf by pumping millions of dollars into the country and that Musharraf even handed over control of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal to Washington.
Kiriakou said the US had very good relations with Musharraf’s government. “Our relations with the Pakistani government were very, very good. It was General Pervez Musharraf at the time. And look, let's be honest here. The United States loves working with dictators. Because then you don't have to worry about public opinion and you don't have to worry about the media anymore. And so we essentially just purchased Musharraf,” he said.
Kiriakou claimed that Musharraf had allowed the United States to take control of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal. “When I was stationed in Pakistan in 2002, I was told unofficially that the Pentagon controlled the Pakistani nuclear arsenal, that Musharraf had turned control over to the United States because he was afraid of exactly what you just described (nuclear weapons falling into terrorist hands),” Kiriakou told ANI.