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War against Taliban-What will it take PAK army to win?

war against Taliban

What will it take the Pakistan army to win?

By

M.M.Khajooria

During his current visit to the United States, President Zardari of Pakistan was questioned about the imminent threat of the Taliban take over of his country. Zardari instead of giving a direct answer posed a counter question, “ with seven million strong Pakistan army how could this be possible ? The questioner left the matter at that and moved on. President Zardari’s counter raised some pertinent questions, which need to be addressed in the interest of a realistic and authentic appraisal of the implication of mteroic rise of Taliban in Pakistan- a state perched precariously on the brink.

The Pakistan President had a long list of options from which to draw strength and support for his position . As the elected head of the state in a democratic country he was expected to stress upon the rejection of the cult of Taliban by the vast majority of the people of Pakistan in the last elections. As it is, most Pakistanis who were adherents of Islamic Sufi mysticism and venerated saints and their shrines dotted across the country considered the extremist savagery , brutal practices and senseless indiscriminate blood shedding abhorrent . It seems not only Pesident Zardari and the US establishment but all other stake holders, the establishment, the parliament , the civil society , the intelligentsia and even the non-fundamentalist clergy have chosen to bet on the Pak Army as the instrument for containing and eliminating the scourge of the Taliban . Given the conditions prevailing in Pakistan there was little choice. The stakes of the nation state of Pakistan and the civilised world in this confrontation were indeed very high. Obviously , the success or failure of enterprise would primarily hinge on the character ,state of health, commitment and capability of the army and its leadership.

.The partition of the Indian Sub continent and creation of Pakistan in August 1947 brought about the division of the British Indian colonial army, a portion of which constituted the Pakistan Army ,Sadly, it had not changed its colonial character even after sixty eight years of independence.

The paramount duty of the British Indian army was to ensure order within India and protect the interests of the RAJ against the challenges of the ‘revolutionary’ elements . In exchange for the services rendered , the British empire , generously rewarded the officers and the men. They were favored with the allotment of precious land particularly in the newly irrigated parts of Punjab and Sindh. Much of the rank-and-file of the Pakistan Army hailed from Punjab and the NWFP, - home to ' martial classes.

The army was thus cast in the dual role of the patron state as well as its colonial strong arm appendage After they became the masters of what they surveyed , the defence forces leadership spread their tentacles across the board - the civil administration, diplomacy, commerce and corporate sector. Corruption, nepotism and favouritism became the order of the day .In this new AVTAR , the army brass not only amassed undreamt of wealth but also simultaneously gathered huge amount of professional flab This in turn significantly diluted. its combat worthiness . Urgent correctives within the army structure and its interface with the other elements of the state apparatus were therefore absolutely necessary to correct, upgrade and enhance the capability of the PAK army to effectively take on the internationally supported fanatical Pakistani Taliban. As Ayjaz Amir appropriately put it “The farce of senior commanders becoming real estate tycoons while still in service must end if we are to see the army function as a more effective fighting machine.” Howsoever despite dilution of their combat capability the PAK army officer corps remained close to the West in terms of personal lifestyles and ideological inclinations.
The smooth sailing boat was violently rocked during Gen.Zia Ul Haq’s stewardship of Pakistan The Jehadi agenda furiously and uncompromisingly promoted by him “polluted” the mindset, work culture and goals cherished by the nations’ fighting machine This imposed an element of severe and serious friction in the armed forces of Pakistan With the passage of time the seedlings have flourished into deadly poisonous plants and vitiated the entire defence established. . ”It is not only the government but also the army that has the responsibility to clean up its act of setting a jihadi agenda back in Ziaul Haq’s time.” Wrote Murtaza Razvi in the piece titled “When up against the militants’ published in daily Dawn. ”Bands of Jihadi boys were brainwashed, nurtured and trained at the behest of the Americans, with petro-dollars flowing in from Arabia to carry out lethal missions against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s. Today they have grown up to be terror machines, churning out young frustrated clones to take on their masters’ mentors.” he pointed out and pertinently asked“ Who knows how many little bin Ladens and Al-Zawahiris they have in their fold, keeping liaisons with the intelligence and security apparatus, even as we speak? This could an extreme view but the presence of Jehadi supporters and sympathisers in the defence ranks was a unpleasant reality. This dichotomy was at the core of the dilemma that griped the army leadership especially at the middle level and debilitated its resolve to confront the Taliban. Resolutely.

The Pakistan army was calibred and motivated to fight against India –the eternal enemy. “ It hasn't a clue about fighting the Taliban in Swat and Waziristan. Indeed, the army's less than brilliant interventions in both these regions have been a powerful factor in making the Taliban more powerful” argued an eminent Pakistani security commentator “To concentrate on the threat we face from within, the time may have come for us to give up on our India fixation. India is a headache. No doubt about it …..But a headache is one thing, an existential threat quite another”

President Zardari was on record having repeatedly stated that he never apprehended any threat from India . The comment of he ISI chief Gen. Pasha some time back that “he was not stupid and knew that the threat to Pakistan came from the extremist and not India” become relevant in this context.. Moving sixty thousand troops away from the Indian borders to the western front may be indicative of the beginning of a shift in strategic thinking in Pakistan Some keen watchers of Indo-Pak-US triangle believe that The US had finally succeeded in convincing Pakistan that it faced no threat to its integrity from India. The question arises as to how real and enduring the shift is ?The answer to this will impact not only the ability of Pakistan army to take its current anti Taliban operations to the logical conclusion but also significantly determine the future course of Indo-Pak relations

has been projected by army spokesperson and Gen. Kiyani himself on number of occasions in the cent past. While there indeed be need for all this and more , considering Pakistan’s past record of using such situations for obtaining and stockpiling military hardware to be used against India, there is need for care and caution.

Not withstanding the above and many other problems and internal contradictions with which it is beset Pakistan army can certainly be relied upon to effectively deal with the Taliban menace, once it drops its India phobia , and was provided necessary war wherewithal . However for his to happen an all out determined and sustained thrust was the prerequisite “Half-measures or half-hearted actions should be avoided like the plague. They haven't worked before and are not likely to succeed now” Realistically speaking and suspicions not withstanding , the Pakistan Army was an indispensable element in any successful strategy against militancy in Pakistan and the region.

The question has been raised as to why the Pak army let the Taliban run amok and virtually halted operations against them ? Pakistan’s Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani the answer . Speaking in the 118 Corpse commanders conference in Rawalpindi on 07 May he aid that ‘The operational pause, meant to give the reconciliatory forces a chance, must not be taken for a concession to the militants,’ in apparent reference to the lull in Swat fighting after the Feb 16 peace agreement” But this was only partially true. In fact the ‘pause’ was under pressure from the pro-Jihadi elements within the army who argued that Taliban should be given a chance to implement the peace agreement .The other indicator was touched by him when he expressed his satisfaction at the standard and conduct of on going training in the field formations as part of ‘Year of Training’ and claimed that Pakistan Army has developed full scale facilities to focus on Low Intensity Conflict (LIC) related operations”

Expressing the military’s resolve to fight and eliminate the militants endangering the lives of peaceful citizens and challenging the writ of the state. Kayani urged national harmony to fight terrorism, extremism. “The present security situation requires that all elements of national power should work in close harmony to fight the menace of terrorism and extremism.”, he said. ” Pakistan “Gen. Kayani pointed out “ is a sovereign state and the people of Pakistan under a democratic dispensation, supported by the Army, are capable of handling the present crisis in their own national interest.” He assured the nation that “ Pakistan Army is fully aware of the gravity of internal threat. It will employ requisite resources to ensure a decisive ascendancy over the militants.”

Gen. Kiyani has got more than what he asked for. The President and the Prime minister have shed their ambivalence and come out strongly and unambiguously for strongest possible action against the Taliban prompting then to hurl threats of killing of the leaders and their families. Not only that the support for army action comes across the political spectrum , there have been public demonstration against the Taliban, some thing unprecedented in Pakistan. But what really tilted the balance was the unexpected bonanza of endorsement from the most influential Barelvu Clerics. “We support the army operation in Swat because it is a battle for the survival and defence of Pakistan,' declared Sahibzada Fazal Karim, leader of Jamiat-e-ulema-e-Pakistan.. On the mundane plane ,the armed forces top brass also have vested interest in ridding the country of fanatic religious elements .Because there was no scope for the survival of the military’s non-defence related economic empire under a Talbanized Pakistan .

As of date over fifteen thousand PAK troops are battling an estimated number of four thousand well armed Taliban in Swat “where Pakistan government has ordered a battle to . “eliminate’. Islamist militants branded by Washington as the greatest terror threat to the west” ”Helicopter gunships and Jet fighters shelled militant hideouts in Peochar,Shamozai and Khawaza Khela areas of Swat which started Friday night and continued ntil Saturday morning” a military official was reported to have said on condition of anonymity..

Be that as it may there is no doubt that Pakistan is today engaged in fighting the mother of all battles- a war , more grave and far-reaching in its implications than any in the past. And its outcome could well determine the very future of what's left of Pakistan as a nation state.

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About the Author

I am a retired Director General of Jammu & Kashmir Police (India) with wide experience in non-Police assignments including Director General Transport, Commissioner for Relief and Rehabilitation, Inspector General of Prisons. Commissioner of a Division and chairman of a Public Sector undrtaking. I am the only Indian Police Serve officer to have been appointed as Commissioner of a Division, a job reserved for Indian Administrative Service (IAS). A political commentator and security analyst, I have written and spoken extensively in national and international fora on contemporary developments in south Asia with particular reference to India, Jammu & Kashmir, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pan Islamic Fundamentalism and its terrorist dimension is the center of my focus. All international developments impinging on these issues attract my pointed attention. I have participated in numerous national and international seminars on a wide range of subjects. and papers submitted by me published.I am associated with the Centre for Regional and Strategic studies, university of Jammu (India). A broadcaster, I am also on the panel of Asia News International (ANI), state, and national TV networks as a security expert. My views on matters relating to security and governance are frequently quoted by state and national news papers. I am presently member of the Jammu & Kashmir state advisory counci