One-third of CIA budget goes to ISI: Report

“Almost every major terrorist plot this decade has originated in Pakistan’s tribal belt, where ISI informant networks are a primary source of intelligence.”
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(November 17, Lahore, Sri Lanka Guardian)Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) collected tens of millions of dollars through a classified CIA programme that pays for the capture or killing of wanted militants, since the 9/11 attacks, accounting for as much as one-third of US spy agency’s annual budget, according to a leading US daily.

The Los Angeles Times quoted officials as saying that the payments have triggered intense debate within the US government, because of "long-standing suspicions that the ISI continues to help Taliban who undermine American efforts in Afghanistan and provide sanctuary to Al-Qaida members in Pakistan”.

But US officials have continued the funding because the ISI’s assistance is considered crucial: “Almost every major terrorist plot this decade has originated in Pakistan’s tribal belt, where ISI informant networks are a primary source of intelligence,” the paper reports.

The White House National Security Council has “this debate every year,” said a former high-ranking US intelligence official involved in the discussions.

-Sri Lanka Guardian