US intelligence circles and the State Department both believe that Robin L Raphel espionage case is bizarre and unprecedented. It is not really so. That is only to mislead the civil society in the US and cover up the black deeds of the State Department and the CIA. It is well known in Journalistic Circles in India that Raphel was very favourably inclined towards Pakistan, particularly in matters detrimental to India interests, did not the State Department and the FBI know it? They did.
The question is why did the State Department and the FBI choose to expose Raphel now? There must be reasons which ordinary people may not know for a long time to come. Raphel has been a dubious character from the very beginning. Needless to remind our readers that her husband, the then US Ambassador to Pakistan, was a casualty in the air crash that killed Pakistani President Zia. How come an Ambassador of the world’s most powerful country travels with the President of the host country, something that is not recommended by the international norms of protocol? Was he very close to Zia and did they share many secrets between them? Pakistani establishment had developed special relations with the late Ambassador. Obviously, his wife must have been an accomplice because after the air crash that killed the ambassador along with the President, the US did not insist on instituting an inquiry into the causes of the air crash nor did it institute inquiry on its own. Normally, the US is very aggressive in such situations to know the truth. But assuming that US did institute an inquiry, it never revealed to the Americans the causes of the air crash. Contrarily, it let speculation make rounds. The American intelligence even spread the canard that the air crash was the handiwork of Russian KGB.
Why did the US retain deceased Ambassador’s wife in Pakistan a functionary at its mission? Nobody knows precisely what were her duties and to whom she used to report? Was it not possible that the elements that contrived the air crash could have taken on her as well? Common sense says that she was retained to provide continuity to the mission in which her husband was deeply involved and her home Government as well. Evidently, there was convergence of interests. Put in simpler words, one finds that the Raphels were acting as double agents. They were privy to many secrets on either side. That was the reason why Robin Raphel maintained close contacts with Pakistani establishment while she remained in the service of the State Department under one or the other nomenclature.
Some US media sources say that ever since the New York Times revealed the sensational news about the setting off investigation, Indian press has gone wild about it and has scripted lengthy and fantastic stories. This in fact is the subtle way of admitting that India has been vindicated in what she had been suspecting for a long period. India’s suspicions are further reinforced by anti-India stance of Robin Raphel. It has to be recalled that in one of her formal visits to Pakistan, she referred to Kashmir as disputed territory and subtly supported Pakistan’s stand on the dispute. This runs contrary to the declared policy of the US about Kashmir. Its declared policy is that the two countries have to sit down and resolve the conflict without an intermediary’s role as laid down in Shimla Agreement of 1972. F.B.I. should not have waited so long to move against a person who had been on their radar for quite some time. What has been done now is definitely a belated action. How far will this step cleanse the State Department of malevolent elements is anybody’s guess?
Scholars of contemporary history are fully aware that on Asian region’s strategies, the US has always taken Pakistan into confidence. After all it was Pakistan that played a crucial role in the ouster of Soviet troops from Afghanistan and imposition of the rule of Taliban on the landlocked territory of Afghanistan. Deep and highly secretive connections between ISI and CIA have been revealed by historians writing on Pakistan. Functionaries like Robin Raphel were crucial to these relations and they were privy to its nitty-gritty. This had ultimately turned into an obligation of sorts for the Americans.
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