
The military, which is more trained to fighting a conventional war, faces a guerilla-like insurgency. This indeed is the weakness of conventional armies everywhere. As a result, Nato forces in Afghanistan have suffered, too. But even so, we must ask quite why there have been so many claims of victory in South Waziristan, in Bajaur and elsewhere. The people of these regions do not feel secure at all. There is still a very long way to go. And what is most unfortunate is that people are not being told the truth about what is going on. The residents of the tribal regions, who have watched what is happening at close range, also ask questions about the degree of army commitment and how genuine the will to battle the Taliban combatants is. The fact that few top leaders have been arrested and some allowed simply to walk away in Swat and Dir, according to local accounts, makes the situation even more complex — and disturbing.
These are all factors we need to think about. We have one of the largest standing armies in the world; the effort to defeat the Taliban has been on since 2002. As citizens we need to know why success has been so hard to achieve, especially given the mayhem that they have wreaked on ordinary Pakistanis and on hundreds, if not thousands, of military and paramilitary soldiers.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 26th, 2011.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ