Talk to the Taliban — but from a position of strength
With its capability, a clearly defined military aim and a political mandate army could surely turn tables on Taliban.
The writer is a retired Lieutenant Colonel of the Pakistan Army and is currently pursuing PhD in civil-military relations from Karachi University
For over 10 years, we have fought a war without well-defined political and military aims. Had our aims been clearly defined and relentlessly pursued, the war that we fight today would have been very close to the finish line. Visualising a favourable end and then directing all our resources and efforts to meet that end was what both the politicians and the generals, were expected to do. An over-a-decade-old war that still witnesses politicians trying to build political consensus on whether to fight it or not, aptly explains why it continues to be in a state of deadlock.
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.
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.