We don’t have potential to fight long wars, but do we have the will to fight, defend our country if a war is imposed?
KARACHI: This is with reference to your report on the corps commanders meeting that took place on September 25.
For the commanders to meet on a Sunday is not only unusual but unprecedented as well. Have US-Pakistan relations come to such a pass that the military commanders are forced to focus on “Pakistan’s safety and survival”? The uncertainty of US intentions must definitely have taken a form of ‘certainty’ for the army chief to call the corps commanders in for a meeting on a holiday.
The agenda of the emergency meeting would surely have been how to counter the threat from the US in case it actually materialises. Furthermore, holding the meeting on a holiday would have indicated to the US and the rest of the world that the threats are being taken very seriously.
That’s fair enough, but we should then ask ourselves that do we have the ability to withstand US aggression. Are we prepared to rely on our capability to protect and safeguard our interests? We don’t have the potential to fight a long war, but do we have the will to fight and defend our country regardless of the cost if a war is imposed on us? I am sure these are some of the issues that were discussed in the meeting.
To state the obvious — we are weak. The Pakistan Army carries the heavy burden of safeguarding the geographical boundaries of Pakistan and clearly has a choice to make and so do the people of the country. Blame for the insecurity of American forces in Afghanistan lies squarely on the shoulders of US military planners and executers of the war in Afghanistan.
There is though some good news from all of this. The Americans are not naive and will not ignore a possible response from the Pakistan military. I am sure the cost of even surgical strikes may far outweigh any potential benefits that the Americans may think they will gain from such an action. And of course, in this whole matrix of possibilities is another key variable, Pakistan’s nuclear weapons.
Lastly, after all this is over, we will need to move ourselves away from the US and seek alliances with regional powers.
Lt-col (retd) Muhammad Ali Ehsan
Published in The Express Tribune, September 27th, 2011.
