Leave the Army Alone
Sowing the Wind
The sound of a bullet is a great equalizer, the sharp snap as it goes past is the moment of truth which separates the men from the boys. The silence of waiting had been deafening, the sound of war started with a sharp clap, this will soon build into a crescendo. As soon as the US ultimatum expired an opportunity presented itself for the targeted assassination of members of the Iraqi regime, Saddam Hussain among them, militarily speaking the actual war will go into full swing as soon as the sandstorms stop! Having delivered an ultimatum, for the US to back down would have been to lose credibility as a military superpower. One silver lining should assuage the feelings of the Muslim World, shepherd to a flock of 1.5 billion Christians, the Pope condemned the war in the strongest possible language. The French, Germans, Russians and Chinese (and millions more in the streets of the western world) had already bankrupted Samuel Huntington’s theory about “Clash among Civilizations”, Our religious leaders must applaud the fact that there are no unipolar Christian and Jewish forces ganging up against Islam as was being widely apprehended in the Islamic world. Morally right or wrong will be on display once the war starts because the Iraqis will certainly use the “weapons of mass destruction” (WMD) if they have them. One thing Bush got right, Saddam Hussain is an obnoxious tyrant whose time has come. It is no use repeating all the atrocities he has visited on humanity, his monstrosity is very well documented. Shed no tears for this despicable person, his associates or his immediate family, they are fully culpable for their share of disseminating cruelty and torture on the Iraqi people. The first “opportunity” attacks were right in being Saddam-specific, instead of bombing Baghdad (and Iraqis) indiscriminately, this is the way to go!
Likely War Scenario
If the US-led Coalition fails to scare Saddam out of Iraq by the sheer build up of forces on his doorstep, bluff will become a reality! Before the moonless period sets in on March 2, a barrage of about 3000 cruise missiles launched in a space of 48 hours by ships and aircraft will hit Iraqi command and control centres, radars and communications sites, suspected chemical and biological warfare production centres, Scud missile sites, Republican Guard concentrations, Baath Socialist Party HQs, etc.
Return to Davos
In a profound gesture of solidarity for the horrific terrorist atrocity of 9/11, the 2002 World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting, was held in New York. While the WALDORF was hospitable, the DAVOS nostalgia could only come back with the return of the 2003 WEF Annual Meeting to its usual “Congress Center” haunt. 2002 saw apprehensions (inspite of globalization) between communities and nations develop into suspicion. Appropriately the Theme this year was “Building Trust”. In setting the parameters for the Summit, Managing Director WEF (former President of Costa Rica) Jose Maria Figueres and Thierry Malleret, Director WEF put restoring confidence in the future as the most important leadership challenge today. Corporate leadership had to cope with the hangover from the boom years, involving managing of overcapacity, benefitting from industry consolidation and adapting to the new corporate governance standards, all this while navigating through a difficult economic and political climate.
Crime, War and Punishment
Even without a damning report of the UN inspectors, the US is seemingly poised to go to war to oust the Saddam regime from Iraq. The Brits are the only country firmly in support, quite a few allies are wavering publicly about their commitment. While a “smoking gun” in the form of direct evidence is still not forthcoming, the secondary reasons include the anticipated destabilization of the entire Middle East because of the backlash among the muslim populace. Purists also argue about a legal basis to initiate war. In DAVOS on Sunday Jan 26, US Secretary of State calmed the fears of the world’s elite while giving a logical explanation of present US troop deployment in the region. However, he said that if need be the US was prepared to go alone.
Keep Your Powder Dry
At a special ceremony held at Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) on Wednesday January 8, 2002 the indigenously developed 1300 km range Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) GHAURI was formally handed over to the President, Gen Pervez Musharraf accepting the induction into the “Strategic Forces Command” on behalf of the Pakistan Army. With this the teeth-to-tail structure of Pakistan as a nuclear power is now complete, i.e. from development of nuclear weapons and delivery systems to the operational commissioning thereof as an integral part of our defence mechanism under the umbrella of the Nuclear Command Authority (NCA). That our scientists, engineers and workers achieved both uranium enrichment and missile development indigenously should be a matter of great pride and satisfaction to all Pakistanis. This force upgradation in non-conventional weapons will take the pressure off our outnumbered (in comparison numerically to our arch-enemy India) Armed Forces.
Without Bloodying Swords
Using the pretext of the Dec 13, 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament, India started moving the bulk of its Armed Forces within a fortnight thereafter to forward locations bordering Pakistan. Whatever part of its vast navy was in sea-worthy condition, our neighbour put out to sea in a posture menacing Pakistan’s coastline and sea-lanes. The Indian primary aim was far more camouflaged and far-reaching i.e. destroy Pakistan as a responsible, sovereign entity in the comity of nations, the rhetoric emanating from both Indian political and military leadership were in unison about the stated public objective, Pakistan would have to stop “cross-border terrorism” or India would take military action to force Pakistan to do so. To back up its threat, India arraigned its land and air forces in an attack mode all along Pakistan’s eastern borders. The moot point was whether India would confine adventure only across the Line of Control (LOC) in Kashmir only or whether it would launch an all-out war across the international border.
Flying Gladiators
President General Pervez Musharraf will present ‘Flying Brevets’ to the officers of P-43 Army Aviation Young Officers Course at a ceremony today at Army Aviation Base, Gujranwala Cantt. We will try and attend this event, it brings back nostalgic memories. Thirty-three years ago both of us graduated from the Army Aviation School, Dhamial in March 1969, only 12 surviving the initial intake of 27 officers in Army Aviation Young Officers Course P-10. The then Commander-in-Chief Pakistan Army Gen Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan pinned flying wings on our chest, a few days later he became President of the country. In 1967 we had the distinction of topping (out of 350 officers) the Infantry Weapons and Tactics Course at Infantry School, Quetta, in 1969 we missed out on the “All-Round Efficiency Trophy” and “the Flying Trophy” respectively, Capt (Retd) Pervez Yousuf (Miss PMA 1963) and Brig (then Maj) Farooq Ahmed Khan (Ironhead) being the deserving winners. We were both posted to 1 Army Aviation Squadron which was then on the move from Dhamial to Mangla Cantt. (Saeed) served as QM with Col Hashmi, (Ikram) became the Squadron Adjutant. We spent wonderful days at Mangla, mainly due to the presence as Corps Commander 1 Corps of one of the finest officers that the Pakistan Army has produced, late Lt Gen M Attiqur Rahman.
During this period, the ratio of pilots to aircraft was not adequate, there was a tremendous shortage of pilots in a “demand” situation. (Saeed) was sent post-haste to do the PAF Flight Instructor School (FIS) at Risalpur while (Ikram) did the OH(13)S Basic Helicopter Course (dead man’s curve) at Dhamial. (Saeed) went onto instruct several batches of Army Officers how to fly, as the youngest VIP-qualified helicopter pilot in Army Aviation in 1970, Ikram flew Alouette-3s officially and a host of other aircraft unofficially (for operational reasons) from Khunjerab Pass to Teknaf, south of Cox’s Bazar. (Saeed) got his “Sitara-e-Jurat” directing air sorties and artillery fire in Chamb in 1971. In relative economic terms both of us have been extremely fortunate but the finest period of our youth was that spent in the service of the country as officers of the Pakistan Army, the “aviation” transition period was certainly “creme de la creme”. The quality of our colleagues was outstanding, the camaraderie was excellent! Former infantry officers with extremely strong attachments to our parent units, we rated our Army Aviation service as “superlative” in quality. Whether (Saeed) teaching his students to come out of a “spin” or (Ikram) lifting casualties from a mountaintop in Azad Kashmir or Gilgit, we risked our lives daily and thought nothing of it. Therefore one can well appreciate the much more manifold risks today’s Army Aviators face! People like “Uz”, later Maj Gen (and High Commissioner), Saeeduz Zaman Janjua kept us forever in a state of good aerial humour, the integrity, competence and indomitable spirit of officers like (then Lt Col) Maj Gen (later Governor NWFP) Nasirullah Khan Babar and (then Maj) Maj Gen Inayatullah Khan Niazi was a source of great inspiration to us. How can one forget (Ikram’s) beloved Flight Commander in Log Flt Eastern Command, Maj (later Brig) Tirmizi, an unsung symbol of quiet courage, fairplay and determination, the perfect Aviator CO in the most adverse circumstances.
South Asia on Edge
If exit polls in Gujerat are to be believed, BJP will win nearly a hundred seats in the Assembly compared to the 70 for the Congress Party. This is bad news not only for India but for the rest of South Asia because the BJP victory is based on blatant exploitation of Hindu chauvinism, anathema to the concept of secular India. Having lost almost all State elections since coming to power, the electoral success will not only be sweet for BJP, it will unfortunately serve as their model for future electoral campaigns. To the credit of the Congress Party they stuck to their secular stance despite pre-polls suggesting that the BJP-inspired carnage of muslims in Gujerat was in line with what voters in the State wanted. Narendra Modi, who can easily be tried in the Hague for genocide in inspiring and inciting violence against the minority muslims while being the primary authority in the State as Chief Minister, was shamelessly paraded by BJP through the electoral hustings proclaiming his “Hindutva” credentials. BJP’s victory in Gujerat is not only a disaster for India, the two muslim countries in South Asia will begin to feel the heat as BJP articulates its immediate “east” and “west” foreign policy to go with its virulent domestic anti-muslim stance.
The Perils of Democracy
After three years of life in the cold, the heat generated by politicians in the National Assembly was to be expected, this surpassed our apprehensions. Even with the compulsion of a graduation degree, unadulterated democracy does not seem suited to most countries of the third world. Every individual is entitled to express one’s views without inhibition, that being the essence of democracy, the loudest advocates thereof tend to drown out others from using the same prerogative. The term “parliamentary language” is certainly not synonymous with what is mostly used in the August House. While unbridled rhetoric remains the hallmark of our freedom of expression, one can only hope that time will bring discretion into the tone and tenor of the elected representatives, who by their present conduct and demeanor seem to represent anything but the aspirations of anybody but the people of their electorate.
The Fog of Democracy
Meeting less than a fortnight after the completion of the electoral process on Nov 2, the members of the National Assembly (NA), duly sworn in by the outgoing Speaker, Elahi Bakhsh Soomro, will vote to elect the NA Speaker and the Deputy Speaker. These elections will provide the outlines of the democratic government that will emerge from the “fog of democracy” prevailing since Oct 11 in the country. While the military government of three years will cease to exist, the new government will consist mainly of those whom the military regime removed on Oct 12, 1999 but who nevertheless during the election campaign publicly supported the rather benevolent three-year militarily rule. The PML (Q)-led Grand National Alliance (GNA) commands enough of a democratic bloc (sans the two other major parties, PPP-P and MMA) to ensure that the man who emerged as the nation’s leader by default as a result of Mian Nawaz Sharif’s mid-autumn madness, General Pervez Musharraf, will continue as President. Before administering the oath of office to the PM-elect, most probably Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, the President will be administered oath of office by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan. With the swearing-in of the PM, the much-maligned 1973 Constitution of Pakistan, duly abridged, will stand restored.