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Needed Rah-e-Nijat II?
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Ikram Sehgal
Our soldiers and airmen are engaged in a race against time to avail a "window of opportunity" before the first flurries of snow hit South Waziristan in or around the first week of December. That would severely restrict air operations and hamper ground movement. For ensuring overwhelming dominance in both firepower and manpower, replenishment of ammunition was necessary after the Swat operations as well as concentrating an adequate composition of force.
Ably supported by pinpoint ground strikes by the PAF and Army Aviation's helicopter gunships, our soldiers have performed magnificently in the past four weeks, seizing vital ground and inflicting heavy casualties on the militants, destroying as well a significant portion of their arsenal and tunnels of fortifications.
The next three weeks are crucial. The Al-Qaeda command structure is cornered in the South Waziristan pocket. Their hard core must be hunted down like the animals they are, "not allowed to run away and live to kill innocent civilians another day." Naming the operations Rah-e-Nijat, "path to salvation," is appropriate in terms of its delivering us from the evil incarnate that Al-Qaeda represents.
Entering FATA in 2003 was an unmitigated disaster for many reasons, another of the many major blunders that our generals have managed to get us into time and again. With an inadequate quantum of forces, with intelligence faulty or incomplete, and the logistics allocated woefully lacking, the task was compounded by a most glaring weakness, with troops neither trained for counter-guerrilla operations nor properly equipped. This was criminal negligence.
While our younger officers and men have always performed well in battle to salvage horrendous situations that commanders without adequate battlefield experience or professional acumen have got them into, there has been no accountability for such adventures. For sending the flower of our youth to their graves while themselves dabbling in real estate and the stock market, have those responsible for Kargil and FATA ever been brought before a military court of enquiry?
It is a matter of shame that they now live in absolute luxury without being held accountable, and have the audacity to write books too! Brave young officers who survived and did not obtain Shahadat were seldom promoted past the rank of lieutenant colonel. In Pakistan merit normally is a disqualifier, in the Pakistani Army both merit and combat experience combined were huge disqualifiers during Musharraf's reign. Members of the military hierarchy were chosen by Musharraf wholly and solely for personal loyalty rather than their professionalism. Like him they mostly lacked combat experience.
President only because he was the COAS of the Army, Musharraf never visited his troops in FATA, a singular lack of interest in the military operations or, for that matter, the welfare and contentment of troops engaged in battle. Was the half-hearted effort live drama staged for American consumption to show them he was "with them and not against them"? That the blood of our young soldiers was being shed to keep him in power meant nothing.
Ashfaq Kayani, at least till now, seems to believe in merit and performance as well as the need to concentrate on soldiers and soldiering. Recognising the continuity factor in feeding success, Kayani did not let Lt Gen Masood Aslam, corps commander for the operations in Swat, and now South Waziristan, take mandatory retirement on Oct 8, pragmatically extending his tenure "till the operations were complete (or at least successfully on the way to completion)." A genuine war hero (Sitara-e-Jurat), Masood Aslam is one of those who slipped through Musharraf's patent system of keeping those with combat experience from becoming a three-star.
This is a very different army from the "civil-isation" of the uniform assiduously fostered by Musharraf post-2002 to keep his officer corps happy by showering "perks" on them. Our brigade and divisional commanders are now very much in the thick of battle instead of being thick in real estate and the stock market. Even then, relatively speaking, his rule was certainly better than what we are experiencing today. However, it nurtured the seeds for the degeneration of our society.
While the sacking of the chief justice ultimately boomeranged on him, Musharraf's worst decision was the enactment of the National Reconciliation Order in 2007, the blackest of black laws, it will hound this nation for years to come. It may have had altruistic democratic motive, it saddled us with a bunch of NAB-certified crooks as our ruling coterie. However, as Karzai has shown, the west is content with fraud and corruption as long as the leaders of a country are on its side.
Once we entered South Waziristan in 2003, Al-Qaeda started to target Pakistan through its proxy, Tehrik-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan (TTP). By crippling normal life in the cities and breaking the morale of the populace, the militants aim to derail military operations in South Waziristan. One must commend the courage and fortitude of the civilian population. They have rendered tremendous sacrifice shoulder to shoulder with their military brethren.
The citizens of Peshawar, followed closely by Lahore and Islamabad, are major targets of the militants. Notwithstanding the fear and apprehension prevalent, the population has shown great resilience and reacted with rage, this has encouraged the military to redouble its efforts.
Even with cases under the NRO being automatically revived, the president has immunity from prosecution despite his being a beneficiary of the NRO, or so says respected lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan. Others have different opinions. But what about the dozen or so unelected cronies with documented NAB pasts who actually rule the roost under the façade of democracy and have returned to loot and plunder all over again. Will they also escape prosecution? Hunkered down in the presidential bunker simply to avoid prosecution--is this the same Asif Zardari who endured more than eight years of prison with courage and good humour? Expect nothing from the prime minister. He is adept at playing games, running alternately with the hares and hunting alternately with the hounds for his own survival.
An ambiguous legal situation will prevail after Nov 28 when the NRO is consigned to the dustbin of history. Will the Supreme Court fiddle while Pakistan burns? One may not subscribe to a "Minus One" formula but an Operation Rah-e-Nijaat-2 by the elected representatives is necessary to rid this country of documented crooks.
Elected by the people have taken an oath of allegiance, they must look into their conscience. Can't our legislators sacrifice their misplaced (or bought) loyalty and do what is right by the country? Will only soldiers in the battlefield and defenceless common citizens be required to give sacrifices? A massive protest eclipsing the March 15 scale could well lead to Operation Rah-e-Nijat 3.
The democratic system must not be derailed, only an all-party national unity government (including technocrats) can cope with the multiple crises facing the nation. Failure to act now may well be the death knell for a long time of whatever is being practiced in the name of democracy in Pakistan.
The real "path of salvation" lies in being delivered by Operation Rah-e-Nijat 2.
The writer is a defence and political analyst. Email: isehgal@pathfinder9.com
Needed Rah-e-Nijat II?
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Ikram Sehgal
Our soldiers and airmen are engaged in a race against time to avail a "window of opportunity" before the first flurries of snow hit South Waziristan in or around the first week of December. That would severely restrict air operations and hamper ground movement. For ensuring overwhelming dominance in both firepower and manpower, replenishment of ammunition was necessary after the Swat operations as well as concentrating an adequate composition of force.
Ably supported by pinpoint ground strikes by the PAF and Army Aviation's helicopter gunships, our soldiers have performed magnificently in the past four weeks, seizing vital ground and inflicting heavy casualties on the militants, destroying as well a significant portion of their arsenal and tunnels of fortifications.
The next three weeks are crucial. The Al-Qaeda command structure is cornered in the South Waziristan pocket. Their hard core must be hunted down like the animals they are, "not allowed to run away and live to kill innocent civilians another day." Naming the operations Rah-e-Nijat, "path to salvation," is appropriate in terms of its delivering us from the evil incarnate that Al-Qaeda represents.
Entering FATA in 2003 was an unmitigated disaster for many reasons, another of the many major blunders that our generals have managed to get us into time and again. With an inadequate quantum of forces, with intelligence faulty or incomplete, and the logistics allocated woefully lacking, the task was compounded by a most glaring weakness, with troops neither trained for counter-guerrilla operations nor properly equipped. This was criminal negligence.
While our younger officers and men have always performed well in battle to salvage horrendous situations that commanders without adequate battlefield experience or professional acumen have got them into, there has been no accountability for such adventures. For sending the flower of our youth to their graves while themselves dabbling in real estate and the stock market, have those responsible for Kargil and FATA ever been brought before a military court of enquiry?
It is a matter of shame that they now live in absolute luxury without being held accountable, and have the audacity to write books too! Brave young officers who survived and did not obtain Shahadat were seldom promoted past the rank of lieutenant colonel. In Pakistan merit normally is a disqualifier, in the Pakistani Army both merit and combat experience combined were huge disqualifiers during Musharraf's reign. Members of the military hierarchy were chosen by Musharraf wholly and solely for personal loyalty rather than their professionalism. Like him they mostly lacked combat experience.
President only because he was the COAS of the Army, Musharraf never visited his troops in FATA, a singular lack of interest in the military operations or, for that matter, the welfare and contentment of troops engaged in battle. Was the half-hearted effort live drama staged for American consumption to show them he was "with them and not against them"? That the blood of our young soldiers was being shed to keep him in power meant nothing.
Ashfaq Kayani, at least till now, seems to believe in merit and performance as well as the need to concentrate on soldiers and soldiering. Recognising the continuity factor in feeding success, Kayani did not let Lt Gen Masood Aslam, corps commander for the operations in Swat, and now South Waziristan, take mandatory retirement on Oct 8, pragmatically extending his tenure "till the operations were complete (or at least successfully on the way to completion)." A genuine war hero (Sitara-e-Jurat), Masood Aslam is one of those who slipped through Musharraf's patent system of keeping those with combat experience from becoming a three-star.
This is a very different army from the "civil-isation" of the uniform assiduously fostered by Musharraf post-2002 to keep his officer corps happy by showering "perks" on them. Our brigade and divisional commanders are now very much in the thick of battle instead of being thick in real estate and the stock market. Even then, relatively speaking, his rule was certainly better than what we are experiencing today. However, it nurtured the seeds for the degeneration of our society.
While the sacking of the chief justice ultimately boomeranged on him, Musharraf's worst decision was the enactment of the National Reconciliation Order in 2007, the blackest of black laws, it will hound this nation for years to come. It may have had altruistic democratic motive, it saddled us with a bunch of NAB-certified crooks as our ruling coterie. However, as Karzai has shown, the west is content with fraud and corruption as long as the leaders of a country are on its side.
Once we entered South Waziristan in 2003, Al-Qaeda started to target Pakistan through its proxy, Tehrik-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan (TTP). By crippling normal life in the cities and breaking the morale of the populace, the militants aim to derail military operations in South Waziristan. One must commend the courage and fortitude of the civilian population. They have rendered tremendous sacrifice shoulder to shoulder with their military brethren.
The citizens of Peshawar, followed closely by Lahore and Islamabad, are major targets of the militants. Notwithstanding the fear and apprehension prevalent, the population has shown great resilience and reacted with rage, this has encouraged the military to redouble its efforts.
Even with cases under the NRO being automatically revived, the president has immunity from prosecution despite his being a beneficiary of the NRO, or so says respected lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan. Others have different opinions. But what about the dozen or so unelected cronies with documented NAB pasts who actually rule the roost under the façade of democracy and have returned to loot and plunder all over again. Will they also escape prosecution? Hunkered down in the presidential bunker simply to avoid prosecution--is this the same Asif Zardari who endured more than eight years of prison with courage and good humour? Expect nothing from the prime minister. He is adept at playing games, running alternately with the hares and hunting alternately with the hounds for his own survival.
An ambiguous legal situation will prevail after Nov 28 when the NRO is consigned to the dustbin of history. Will the Supreme Court fiddle while Pakistan burns? One may not subscribe to a "Minus One" formula but an Operation Rah-e-Nijaat-2 by the elected representatives is necessary to rid this country of documented crooks.
Elected by the people have taken an oath of allegiance, they must look into their conscience. Can't our legislators sacrifice their misplaced (or bought) loyalty and do what is right by the country? Will only soldiers in the battlefield and defenceless common citizens be required to give sacrifices? A massive protest eclipsing the March 15 scale could well lead to Operation Rah-e-Nijat 3.
The democratic system must not be derailed, only an all-party national unity government (including technocrats) can cope with the multiple crises facing the nation. Failure to act now may well be the death knell for a long time of whatever is being practiced in the name of democracy in Pakistan.
The real "path of salvation" lies in being delivered by Operation Rah-e-Nijat 2.
The writer is a defence and political analyst. Email: isehgal@pathfinder9.com
Needed Rah-e-Nijat II?
