The army chief is right to the extent that militants are on the run in areas where the military is confronting them.
LAHORE: This is with reference to General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani’s remarks made on April 23 where he told cadets of the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul that the militant’s back has “been broken”. The fact of the matter is that American dependency upon Pakistani forces is not a secret. While the Americans have their drones, they know that using drones alone cannot help in capturing territory or driving out militants from a particular area. That can only be done by ground forces, and for that the Americans need the assistance of the Pakistanis.
What the army chief is saying is right to the extent that the militants are on the run in the areas where the military is confronting them. And, of course, while he did not make any reference to it, his remarks are also intended as a response to recent American statements that the Pakistani military is not doing enough to fight the militants.
Ali Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, April 25th, 2011.
