Thread by @tequieremos

Back in 1984, when Soviets had invaded Afghanistan, a very interesting event took place. Both the ISI and CIA were supporting the freedom fighters in Afghanistan. The then CIA director William Casey wanted to visit the training camps of Mujahideen along the western front.

[1]

https://twitter.com/CIA/status/1379437049728659459

ISI had kept CIA officers away from the border camps where Afghan fighters trained, but Casey insisted that he be allowed to visit. In early 1984, the first time he asked, ISI turned to the Islamabad CIA station for help in dissuading him.

[2]

Soviet special forces had become active across the Pakistani borders, and ISI feared the Russians might pick up word of Casey’s movements or accidentally encounter him in an ambush. It was hard to imagine a more nightmarish scenario for Pakistan’s national security than...

[3]

the prospect, however slim, that the CIA director might be kidnapped by the KGB on Pakistani soil. But Casey refused to be put off.

In the end ISI collaborated with the Islamabad station to set up a temporary—essentially fake—mujahedin training camp in the hills...

[4]

that sprawled to the north behind Islamabad, far away from the Afghan border. They loaded Casey in a jeep at night, declined at least initially to tell him where they were going, and bumped in circles along rough roads for about the time that would be required to...

[5]

reach the Afghan frontier. Then they unpacked him from the convoy and showed him a small crew of Afghans training on 14.5-millimeter and 20.7-millimeter antiaircraft guns. The Afghans made a lot of noise, and Casey wept ‘tears of joy’ at the sight of his freedom fighters.

Reference:

1. Interviews with Howard Hart, November 12, 26, and 27, 2001 (SC). His account is corroborated by several other sources, including Yousaf (ISI officer)
2. Steve Coll, Ghost Wars