TIT-FOR-TAT IS NOT ENOUGH

TIT-FOR-TAT IS NOT A STRATEGY

The government of Pakistan is being described as having run out of patience with the continuing terrorist attacks even as the Taliban is engaged in talks with the government. What is said to have tipped matters over the edge is the killing of 23 FC Pakistani soldiers who had been held by the Taliban since 2010. They were mercilessly butchered and their bodies thrown on a roadside, according to the video released by their murderers. Earlier an attack on a police bus that killed 13 policemen in Karachi had started the process of a rethink on the government of Pakistan’s part. The response to the FC men’s butchery saw the government hand its committee refusing to continue the dialogue unless and until the Taliban stops all terrorist activities, a ceasefire meanwhile the aerial bombardment of training camps and other bases in North Waziristan and Khyber Agencies has yielded a crop of foreign fighters mostly Uzbeks killed arms and ammunition dumps and a bomb-making factory in Khyber destroyed by Pakistani jets. The armed forces emphasized that these were precision strikes to keep collateral damage down and have proved effective enough along with the government’s firmer stance. In persuading the Taliban and their apologists to now plead for a resumption and continuation of the dialogue. Tactically at the moment then the initiative lies with the government and the military and the ball is in the Taliban’s court to provide an acceptable response or the talks are off. The only caveat with that government’s newfound spine is that it remains tactical not strategic. Talk of a befitting response, teaching lessons and demanding those interested in a dialogue isolate themselves from the recalcitrant’s and abandon violence smack more of a tit-for-tat approach rather than any well thought through strategic posture. In such a scenario the strategic initiative still retaliation even with overwhelming force as in the North Waziristan and Khyber bombardments will remain limited in its effect.

Arguably what the government of Pakistan is insisting on now after the bloody events following the start of the talk. A ceasefire should have been the first and irreducible demand for even starting the talks. Surprisingly the government has protested to and asked for the help of the Afghanistan government in the tracing out and punishing the killers of the 23 FC men since there are unconfirmed reports, according to the foreign office, that the incident took place on afghan soil.

The government and the military authorities need to understand that what we are facing is a protracted war in which not one but a series of military operations will be required over years to combat an enemy that is organized in small groups is elusive in that terrain and prepared to fight until it is convinced of the fruitlessness of its cause. This will require strong political will and a strategic not tactical or retaliatory approach to the terrorists activities.

The Supreme Court’s ire against the attempted Talibanisation of the tribal areas is spot on. The time has arrived to take stern action against these rogues. However there is a need to bring about a holistic chance in the general behavior towards the minorities and people from other faiths in Pakistan. The discord between the Sunni-Muslim Pakistanis and their counterparts from non-Muslims and communities of other faiths and denominations should be resolved by revealing the divine design that rests on diversity and tolerance for it.