Fighting against militancy: Gunships grounded over high costs

[Pak_Sher]

Helicopter support is crucial in an op against the terrorists and US must speed up the disbursement of funds in WOT. Snail pace accounting practices will bring snaail pace results.

 

[alimobin memon]

well its a lie

 

[alimobin memon]

we spent ammunition on these exercises where we get them ? like today Re: PAF in support of infantry and armor in training exercise today video shown in topic showing fga tank firing rapidly
we already make unguided and atgm for cobras
our doctrine to face a war on full scale is greater than 45days!!

 

[alimobin memon]

pak-army is pretending as......its bkoz we have to save for future india attack or jst a simple lie.

 

[Aamir Hussain]

But isn't the battling of militants inside your territory you own government's target? This does not seem to be a part of America's war on terror campaign since agencies like TTP which your fellow nationals admit is indigenous to Pakistan.

How would United States be liable in this case? And if not, they would refuse any fund that they might not deem essential based on the militancy situation. What is your opinion on this?

US is no fool – they have been paying for this fight for years now and would continue to do it until their minimum mission objectives are met in Afghanistan.

Let us look at the situation from a strategic perspective and than narrow it down to the border areas.

Apparently, US mission parameters in Afghanistan are:

1. Stability and sustainability of the present quasi Afghan National setup and friendly Afghan Government.
2. End of resistance movement led by Afghan Taliban – capture and dismantling of Taliban command structure and leadership including capture or killing of Mullah Omer.
3. Effective dismantling of Al-Qaeda Command and Communication structures in both Afghanistan and Pakistan including capture or death of Osama Bin Laden and the key leadership.
4. Continued stationing of US troops in Afghanistan beyond the present conflict. Basically to project direct influence and control over ingress and egress of oil out of Central Asia, and Africa into China and possible force projection options vis a vis Iran.

If these are the mission objectives of US in Afghanistan (Or at least they went in to do this in the first place) than let us look at the actors and their geographic positioning:


Major Stake holders: US, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
Actors: Taliban, TTP, Al-Qaeda, US Govt. and its Armed Forces, GoP, & GoA.
Bystanders (Supposedly) but have active interest in the outcome: Iran, China, India, Russia. We can rope in KSA, Turkey (Due to ethnic link) and UAE etc.

Taliban Command Structure and operational area: Reportedly Command is based out of Quetta Shura. Operational Commanders in Southern Afghanistan with supply lines out of FATA and Iran.

Al-Qaeda Command Structure and operational area: Reportedly straddling the Pak-Afghan border. Operational commanders and sleeper cells operating allover the region.

TTP Command Structure and operational area: Reportedly in and around FATA with safe heaven along the Pak-Afghan borders. Operations in and around FATA, Road ways linking Pakistan and Afghanistan, soft targets in cities and some reported joint operations with Afghan Taliban’s in areas bordering Wazirstan.

The lines beyond here start getting blurred – since all three anti state actors are based, supplied or operating in areas straddling Pak Afghan border with sometimes shared logistical support, some joint operations into Afghanistan, and shared recruitment and training ground; the fight to defeat them becomes a shared responsibility between US, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Why I am saying what I am saying? Cases in point are the drone strikes – they are not launched only to take out Al-Qaeda operatives but to target Taliban middle tier leadership and TTP Command as well. US boots on the ground to train Pakistani security personnel for WoT -- a common goal and an enemy.

Furthermore, why would US want us to launch operations in N. Waziristan? Not because it is only infested with TTP cadre but also interlaced with Al-Qaeda and Afghan Taliban leadership and staging areas.

Pakistan is not the only aggrieved or effected party in the region because of this mess. All of us have to share some responsibility and off course the cost because not doing it will cost all of us, tremendously, in the long run; US for not doing the prudent thing and staying engaged in the region after the Geneva Accords, Pakistan for trying to act as an Imperialist power, Afghans for not getting their act together and forming a national government after the withdrawal of Soviet Forces and other regional players for forming their own power blocks in Afghanistan.

My friend, costs are not counted in just dollars and cents – but also in human lives sacrificed for a collective mistake. Pakistan and Afghanistan have paid a heavy price for our collective near sightedness. United States was one of the first countries to acknowledge this by agreeing to foot a lot of costs for actual fighting. I only wish that other regional players act more responsibly and side with us in this battle instead of complicating the issue and forwarding their own little agendas. I only hope that this done sooner than later before all of this comes back and bite us all in our b****ds.

 

[Jango]

the heli operations are still going on as they were before.....there is nothing to it

 

[Parashuram1]

Well the words of military generals on this side of the border are something to the contrary. Watch the interviews of the ex Maj Gen Tariq Khan IGFC, who lead the major operations in the tribal areas, he has something else to say. And as for the experienced members you are referring to, may be they are not that much experienced in reality. Do watch and read what ex- IGFC had to say.

Thank you for directing me to a good source. I would still say that this is more than just religion or ethnicity. The core problem of your country is economy and development which translates to inflation, accessibility to consumer goods and a strong domestic manufacturing base. Religion and other such classifications are simply a manipulation strategy that politicians are using to gain their ground in the times of national turmoil.

First of all, i have no idea, where this Indian thing came into, did i said anything about India or its involvement ?? I don't think so, even still if what happens as you said, it simply means they are more into trolling then knowing the facts on the ground.

Please re-read your comment sir. The tone seemed to be accusatory since bringing an Indian situation here was irrelevant vis-a-vis their handling of Sri Lankans two decades back, since our discussion is about your country.

Never mind. If you did not mean it, please ignore it.

I hope you have heard of the Muslim brotherhood thingy,

I did not have to go further than this. Freund, you need to understand that this concept of forming brotherhoods in politics does not work well. It never lasts. It will never exist. Even the most zealous Christian politicians in Europe do not conceptualize a state of political-religious alliance. It is always economical, political, military based alliances that dictate the modern world. If any sanity or reason was to be found in religious brotherhoods, the Ottoman empire would not have crumbled. Blaming the British for this again, will not do you good since it was the Arabs who chose to differ despite same religion and culture from their Ottoman commanders.

I speak this from my heart; your country needs to eliminate this concept. Your alliance will not last long if it is solely on the basis of such fickle concepts as a theological alliance. The bottomline of any alliance today is what you can offer the other country and what the other country can offer you. If these two are mutually beneficial, alliances form regardless of religion, culture, ethnicity or any such social differentiations which matter little in politics.

My answer is, since I am a Pushtun, i belong to this area which is seeing the major fighting, know the people and then talk, otherwise whatever else you guys say, comes into the spear of trolling as you guys don't know who doing what and why.

So whom do the people of your region want to face right now? Your own national military or the Americans? Because from your people's standpoint, both seem equally complicit in the pandamonium that is reigning in your country.

There is simply no point of either a revolution or even an attempt to strike at Americans. Either of these steps taken will only worsen your condition. The best option right now would be to make sure that non-violent protests are held in your region with your demands listed. And by protests I mean all those who are dissatisfied with government policies that matter to your region (not some Islamic brotherhood or other such unconcerning matters but instead food, shelter, employment, peace and stability of your province).

This is the only way. Violence will only invite more violence and plunge your country closer to the pre-2001 Afghanistan's condition.

 

[faisaljaffery]

Every Pakistani has to think of that and we need to pay our due share of taxes in a fair manner so that Pakistan's financial problems could be resolved.