Abbottabad commission meeting: ‘US, Afghanistan never considered a direct threat’
None of the Pakistani civilian or military institutions ever considered the US or Afghanistan a direct threat to the country and thus, remained oblivious to the covert US operation in Abbottabad on May 2 that killed al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
During the fourth meeting of the inquiry commission probing the incident, Defence Secretary Lt-Gen (retd) Syed Athar Ali provided a detailed statement explaining the salient features of Pakistan’s defence policy.
“He apprised the commission that none of the government departments including the ministry of defence, the Joint Staff Headquarters or any military service ever considered the US or Afghanistan a direct threat,” said an official handout issued after the meeting.
The secretary further said that the country’s defence policy is formulated on the basis of a policy approved by the defence committee of the cabinet, headed by the prime minister.
He explained that the defence policy directs the Joint Staff Headquarters (JSHQ) to formulate a Joint Strategic Directive (JSD). The JSD was issued in 2007 following an extensive debate within the armed forces and acts as the main document for everything, including composition, structuring, development plans, training, methodology, employment strategy, and so on. The JSD also issues specific instructions to the armed forces to prepare for countering an identified threat.
The secretary further apprised the commission that the May 2 incident has left a very deep imprint on the entire nation, the armed forces in particular. He said that the armed forces are now better prepared to respond to any such threat.
The defence secretary also explained that unlike an undefended civilian compound, our strategic assets are well protected and an elaborate defensive mechanism is in place.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 21st, 2011.
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Which "Strategic Assets" is our Defense Secretary talking about ???? Why he failed to go further and say that the threat is only from "Within" our own home made Assets. What we need is only to bring our own house in order right from the grass root level. We need to remove all doubtful characters from our systems at early stage. Later when these monsters reach higher ranks they become more dangerous than Weapons Of Mass Destruction.
Anyone ask him how the most wanted terrorist in the World was living comfortably within the shadow of the Pakistan Military Academy? . Anyone ask him how he would defend the country if the USA becomes a "direct threat" - what radar installation is going to detect stealth bombers, stealth fighters? What military advances Pakistan has that Iraq didn't possess? What steps he has taken to remove people who supported OBL? . I doubt it.
US was never considered a threat? Is our military institution insane or what? US should always be considered a threat.
"The defence secretary also explained that unlike an undefended civilian compound, our strategic assets are well protected and an elaborate defensive mechanism is in place".
So now, intead of armaments protecting country, PROTECTING armaments itself becoming a probelm.
Nobody considered the US and Afghanistan as "direct threats" to Pakistan? This is a lame and asinine excuse for a commission so constituted to conduct a full-throtle investigation into the Abbottabad raid and come up with unbiased findings. If the US and Afghanistan were not seen as "direct threats" to Pakistan, then Pakistan should have done away with its vicious double games with these same countries a long time ago. The double games Pakistan has been playing, along with the "strategic depth" doctrine, are precisely an insurance policy, particularly against the US and Afghanistan. Anyway, so who or what are the direct threats to Pakistan? Why focus on the US or even Afghanistan alone? Does the commission also consider the now-deceased Osama bin Laden as once posing a "direct threat" to Pakistan, when he was safely ensconced in that part of the country? Again, attempts are being made to deflect attention away from the fact that OBL was staying in the country unmolested for many years. It's time to get clean and do away with red-herring tactics and denials.