By Dr Shabir Choudhry

London: Pakistanis are very determined people. Once they set their eyes on something they will go for it all the way. They wanted to get Jammu and Kashmir, not because they wanted to ‘liberate them’ but because that suited their national interest; and for that they risked everything and despite many internal and external threats, still have not abandoned their mission to get Kashmir.

Likewise war against Taliban was not their war, but they wanted to make it their war as it suited them. They worked hard for number of years to make it a Pakistani war.

Their sincerity in this regard and hard work has paid off, and now it is their own war. It has knocked the walls of their command and control centre, a building which was supposed to be most important and heavily guarded. This building - their GHQ should have be impregnable, and yet only ten men in broad day light managed to penetrate that and kill more than fourteen army men including one Brigadier and one Lt Colonel.

They even managed to make thirty nine people hostage for more than eighteen hours.

Nine attackers were killed and there commander was injured and arrested. Americans and others involved in the ‘war on terrorism’ must feel satisfied now. They can take a back seat and let Pakistanis fight this war which will kill more Muslims and Pakistanis, as both warring sides are Muslims and Pakistanis.Full Pakistani involvement in this war will mean America can stay longer in Afghanistan and put in practise policies to control and dominate this region and Central Asia. No one wins in wars. All lose although some lose more than others. In this war where battleground is Pakistan and its cities, Pakistan cannot be a winner. It is not a war, it is called a civil war, and Pakistan fought one civil war in 1970/71 with disastrous results.

Pakistani army and leaders are claiming that outcome of the attack is a ‘victory’; and ‘paid defence analysts, conspiracy theorists and TV anchors’ were hired to distract attention and present it as a great victory. If the aim of ten militants was to host a Taliban flag on the building of GHQ, and they failed in that then it is a victory for the army, but anyone with any sense knows that this was not their aim.

Their aim was to cause death and make big news of this; and they have done that successfully. They killed two senior officers and twelve others. They have sent a clear message that they can penetrate anywhere and that nothing in Pakistan is beyond their reach.

This attack has seriously demoralised common man because they think if the headquarters of the army is not safe then how could we be safe in this environment where terrorists are calling shots and attacking and penetrating army and security related institutions. First responsibility of every state is to provide basic security to its citizens, and if that is not guaranteed then people have right to question the purpose of government and State.

Disturbing aspect of this episode is that there were intelligence reports that something similar to what has happened might be attempted. The report was also published in some Pakistani newspapers which clearly stated that there could be attack on army headquarters by militants dressed as soldiers.

The report also warned that the attack could be a joint effort of Taliban, Lashkar e Tayiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad. People want to know why despite a prior warning from intelligence reports preventive measures were not taken.

What annoys people more than anything else is the fact that these organisations were established, trained and funded by Pakistani agencies to advance Pakistan’s political agenda. In other words Pakistani money and know how was used to train these people who have now turned against Pakistan and its policies. They have become a major threat to Pakistan, its security and society. They have killed thousands of Pakistani soldiers and many senior officers. Moreover the commander of the operation, Aqeel, alias Dr Usman, is a former soldier himself. He left army service and first joined Lashkar e Taiba, and then he joined Jaish e Mohammed and then became part of Tehrek e Taliban Pakistan. No one knows how many Dr Usman’s have joined the terrorist groups and where they are hiding with inside knowledge. It also raises a serious question as to how security agencies will react if in future another attack is made with dozens of trained militants, especially on sensitive facilities. It is a major policy blunder, a major security laps and a big failure, and despite that if Pakistani analysts and military generals want to present this as a victory then may Allah put them on right path? In view of many analysts, Pakistani and foreign, it was not a victory for Pakistan, if anything; it exposed Pakistani potential and security preparedness.