By : Saleem Qamar Butt
“And make ready against them all you can of power, including steeds of war (tanks, planes, missiles, artillery, etc.) to threaten the enemy of Allah and your enemy, and others besides whom, you may not know but whom Allah does know. And whatever you shall spend in the Cause of Allah shall be repaid unto you, and you shall not be treated unjustly”.
Surah Al-Anfal [8:60] – Al-Qur’an al-Kareem
Prime Minister of Pakistan’s visit to USA after declaration by four countries i.e. USA, China, Russia and Pakistan for bringing peace and stability in Afghanistan, the spoiling stake holders have upped their anti Pakistan activities particularly acts of terror targeting Pakistani Armed Forces troops from across the border. Every now and then, our great sons of the soil in uniform are becoming victim of such odious and cowardly attack particularly those who are busy in fencing Pak-Afghan international borders, cleansing Balochistan of proxies’ footprints and those guarding the Line of Control. It does not need any genius to figure out the perpetrators as well as the despicable nexus among neighbours in East, West and South of Pakistan and other drug barons and smuggling cartels who want to spoil all peace efforts, keep bleeding American and allied troops so that the instability in Afghanistan and the region could be further leveraged to keep their personal pockets filled with dollars; besides, maintaining Afghanistan as a bleeding battle ground and using it to target Pakistan to weaken it to their unholy wished end state is no secret as it has been happening in the last almost 18 year. Enough is enough!
Pakistan being in the centre stage to make lead efforts for finding a peaceful solution to lingering imbroglio on request from three big powers is upsetting for India as witnessed through their hysterical media as well as by pandemonium in their parliament. Moreover, Afghan incumbent government’s unease has also been expressed officially as well as through heightened acts of terror within Afghanistan blaming Pakistani Taliban (non-existent though) and increased cross borders firing on our troops busy in closing the flood gates of terror and smuggling. The shahadat of our brave sons in uniform along Pak-Afghan borders as well as in Balochistan closer to Iranian borders (ten martyred on 27th July alone) or killing of civilians along the line of control is no more tolerable and needs to be given a tit for tat response without any delay though precise hot pursuit operations. Let the enemy pay at least ten times more than what they inflict on us though their covert actions, subversion and sabotage, only that will strike terror in the hearts of enemy of Pakistan. I am reminded of a saying of an American general who had said, “it is not good to merely die for your country, but make the other SOB to die for his country”, a military philosophy that demands highest standards of war fighting and preparation, where merely lip service to the martyrs has to be replaced with meaningful and fearful retaliation, avenging one with at least ten. Pakistan Armed forces are the bravest, most battle hardened and capable of accomplishing what I am suggesting. It is bound to serve us better than anything else.
As was highlighted in my few previous articles, when it comes to peace in Afghanistan, it ought to be a long and arduous process filled with road bumps, bends, U turns, ambushers and even dead end. Therefore, any step that Pakistan takes and any spoiling effort that comes its way, the three big stake holders as well as other positive regional stake holders must be kept informed and involved through diplomatic , military and intelligence challenge. We got to make sure that under no circumstances, the battlefield once again is allowed to be shifted on Pakistan’s soil as evils eyes will remain fixed on start assets and capabilities of Pakistan that a security and economic instability stricken country may find hard to protect. POTUS Trump’s haste in exiting from Afghanistan for political exigency notwithstanding, the White House cleavage with US Department of Defence and Langley must also be factored in along with regional spoilers and necessary safeguards need to be made infallible.
It is surely the sacred blood of martyrs that has cleansed and safeguarded our country against so many internal ills afflicting our society and external conspiracies and acts of war and terror. Nevertheless, minimizing the loss of extremely precious lives of our troops and civilians by even better intelligence, enhanced counter intelligence and swift military retaliatory capability is the moot point for penning down these few lines.
And do not say about those who are killed in the way of Allah, “They are dead.” Rather, they are alive, but you perceive [it] not. Al Baqarah 154
Saleem Qamar Butt, SI (M) is a retired senior Army officer with rich experience in International relations, diplomacy and analysis of strategic issues. (Mail: sqbutt61@gmail.com, Website: www.sqbutt.com )
