The writer is a retired Lieutenant Colonel of the Pakistan Army and is currently pursuing PhD in civil-military relations from Karachi University
What battlefield success is there to show? If the military aims were clearly defined, would the army be as reluctant to fight this war as it has been over the years? The idea of handing over this war to the politicians now, to fight it on the negotiations table, without having sufficiently weakened the Taliban insurgency, speaks of a policy failure. The stark reality is that if the army pulls out from Fata, the Taliban will regain vital territories and re-establish their strongholds. Breaking free from the deadlocked war, they will strike back with consequences that are much worse, for the army as well as the state. It is only to postpone such consequences that the army cannot pull out and continues with its half-hearted attempts and modest offensive operations to keep the Taliban at bay. To all those who propagate and admire the resilience of the Taliban in fighting this war, I only say that the Pakistan Army has yet not tested their resolve. With its capability, a clearly defined military aim and a political mandate the army could surely turn the tables on them. It could be us not conceding to their demands and it could be them who may actually be forced to seek concessions.
It is time that our controversial Afghan policy is put to a serious review. The Taliban control the critical border districts that share a border with Pakistan in southeast Afghanistan. The Afghanistan National Security Force will never have the military muscle to change the status quo. With international forces pulling out from the other side of the border and the Pakistan Army continuing to exercise restraint, all that the Taliban are doing is waiting out. They smell victory.
The choice is clear. Either we can continue to retain, and later use, some Taliban proxies to undermine India’s interests in a post-American exodus Afghanistan or we can decide to fight all the foreign and domestic militants, regardless of their alliances and which side of the border they chose their targets or point their guns. Having fought this stalemated war for over a decade, it’s time that the political and military leadership conceded to its decade long Afghan policy failure. Calling the heads of the political parties to attend the military and intelligence briefings are only cosmetic actions and put up shows that will bring about no meaningful change in the war that remains deadlocked. Only when our Afghan policy is reviewed seriously by a meticulously chosen gathering of a joint, competent and capable civil-military administration can we finally have a political aim that has not guided and propelled this war.
The Taliban have the blood of thousands of military and civilian personnel on their hands. All our confidence-building gestures have so far failed to convince them to renounce violence and seek peace. Had we not allowed ourselves to be repeatedly bullied by them, they would have actually taken measures to seek negotiations rather than acting to ensure they collapse. Negotiate we must — but only after getting them to their knees. If this is not a military aim that is achievable, then we will just keep muddling through, which, unfortunately, means having an unstable and insecure Pakistan.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 19th, 2013.
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Position of strength, a very vague term indeed. Dear author how would you like to be strong diplomatically or militarily. What position of strength do you wish to acquire when you have none. How do you intend to get it. But talking to these guys is like commiting harakiri. These fools will hunt all the liberals down post 2014. I hope I am proven wrong because i don't want both our countries to suffer. Rab rakha
"It is time that our controversial Afghan policy is put to a serious review. The Taliban control the critical border districts that share a border with Pakistan in southeast Afghanistan. The Afghanistan National Security Force will never have the military muscle to change the status quo. With international forces pulling out from the other side of the border and the Pakistan Army continuing to exercise restraint, all that the Taliban are doing is waiting out. They smell victory."
The ANSF and ANA do have the military muscle to change the status quo but Pakistan keeps harboring, funding, training and arming the Taliban, which exacerbates the situation and strengthens the distrust towards Pakistan.
Undermining India's interest in Afghanistan will not change the status quo in Afghanistan and as long as this policy is not reviewed, the Afghans will manipulate Pakistani Pashtuns and reciprocate in kind.Two can play this game, life is cheap and a suicide bomber can be bought for peanuts on both sides of the border. The Taliban will never be able to overrun Kabul, all they can do is be a menace to society.
[ET moderators - Thanks for accepting my earlier comment. Please print this as well as it clarifies a relevant issue. I am posting it for the second time. Thanks in advance!]
@antanu:
I cannot thank you enough Sir, for your comment. Please accept my heartfelt gratitude for accepting the “correctness” of my anguished observations, before I explain to you why the use of the word ‘We’ is also correct, and is certainly not the result of ‘moral depravity’ as you contend.
I am a Pakistani who spent first eleven years of his life in the village Sukkho in Pathowar, till October 1947. I may have been deprived of my hometown and my motherland just because I was not of the same religion as Jinnah, but there is no power on earth, or in the heavens, which can take away from me the love and concern I harbor in the deepest corners of my heart for my motherland, and my brothers, sisters and children who reside there.
I am an avid reader of four Pakistani newspapers; follow Najam Sethi and Hasan Nissar on TV, and see many talk shows on a daily basis. This leaves me with more pain in my heart than I can see on the faces of those I left behind. I feel sorry for what has been done to my motherland, and what the future seems to hold for it. It may be difficult for you to see, but it is natural for me to feel concerned, and try to do whatever little bit I can from a distance.
Rest assured Sir, that I am a friend of my motherland and its people, wherever I may reside in this world. I am sure my example will encourage you to work tirelessly for saving Pakistan and making it a heaven on earth for all humanity. May Allah be your guide, Amen.
@antanu: {please have the moral courage to write with your true name and nationality} I dont think you are using your real name / Nationality either.
Any way there is substantial truth in wonderer's comment. Look I am not hiding and I have the moral courage.
@wonderer: what you wrote is correct but dont use the word WE.please have the moral courage to write with your true name and nationality..or else keep quiet.being urself as dubious u should nod not preach morality to others.
This problem will remain unsolved as long as we remain obsessed with the Kashmir question. That also means our obsession with the Kashmir Jihad. We are so blinded with this single minded pursuit that we fail to see the utter impossibility of our dreams being realized.
We have tried military methods but failed. We want to negotiate but fail to create the necessary conditions. We use misinformation as a tool, but that convinces no one about our case except ourselves. We have tried 'non-state actors', but that has only got us the distinction of being named 'international migraine'. What we see as Jihad is considered terrorism by others. We have lost a part of our nation and all internal peace, but we must get Kashmir even if that makes us a failed state. We gathered some very expensive toys for our Generals, but that never brought Kashmir any closer. Have we not lost our sanity?
We will keep reading articles such as this one till the day of Qayaamat. The chances of Kashmir ever becoming a part of Pakistan are as remote as the chances of this comment passing through the ET moderators!
The choice is clear. Either we can continue to retain, and later use, some Taliban proxies to undermine India’s interests in a post-American exodus Afghanistan or we can decide to fight all the foreign and domestic militants, regardless of their alliances and which side of the border they chose their targets or point their guns.
To me this, sums up the argument of the author. It seems entirely logical - but will the security apparatus admit the error of its ways and bite the proverbial bullet?