Subject: Mission Correctness - Bhutto's Assassination (Unclassified Document)
Date: 21-04-2010, Wednesday
Under Secretary McHale:
This week we have seen the most extraordinary series of public attacks on the United States by Lt Gen (ret) Hamid Gul, a noted anti-American crackpot who derives his role as an "expert analyst" by being the only former Inter-Services Intelligence (151) Chief whoever appears on TV. Gul was briefly ISI chief during PM Bhutto's first term in office almost 20 years ago. Appearing on several TV stations this week, Gul has repeated allegations that the U.S. is implicated in the Bhutto Assassination — the subject is current this week because of the release of the U.N. report on the assassination, which is itself a remarkable document.
One ironic element of the UN report on the assassination is the report that on October 16, 2007, former PM Bhutto wrote to General Musharraf that the very same Hamid Gul was one of three people she considered a threat to her security. (see excerpt below) This fact came up in none of the programs. Our view is that the television journalists and executives now must begin taking responsibility for putting inciting and unsubstantiated claims on the air. We have released the attached "Correction," which will be seen by news editors across the country.
Excerpt from the UN report on the Bhutto assassination:
On 16 October 2007, Ms. Bhutto writing from Dubai to General Musharraf, identified three people she considered a threat to her security: (i) Brigadier (ret) Ejaz Shah, Director General of the IB at the time of the assassination, (ii) General (ret) Hamid Gul, a former Director General of the ISI, and (iii) Mr Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, Chief Minister of Punjab until 22 November 2007.
Larry Schwartz
Minister Counselor for Public Affairs
Embassy of the United States of America
Islamabad - PAKISTAN
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