In any war, the enemy is not accorded a public platform from which to bombard the civilian population with its propaganda. In Pakistan, we have the bizarre situation where terrorists like Muslim Khan can appear on TV and threaten the state, while justifying the Taliban’s violence and cruelty. This causes confusion, and results in the kind of ambiguity that has characterised the war thus far.
One problem facing the army is that once it has liberated an area from the terrorists, it cannot stay forever to make sure the killers do not return. This is the job of the police and the paramilitary forces. But these forces are too weak and demoralised to take on the task. Over the last few months, they have seen scores of their colleagues murdered in the most gruesome ways by militants who are far better armed and trained.
More importantly, they have not received the political or public support they deserve. While it is easy enough to mock their lack of success, the fact is that they have not been trained or armed for the task that has been thrust upon them. Despite years of ethnic and sectarian terrorism, successive governments have consistently neglected to build up the morale and discipline of the police and the paramilitary force.
Among the many jokes and cartoons that land up in my inbox, one was called Karachi Cops. It depicted American, British and German police officers, armed and armoured with modern equipment, looking fierce and menacing. Finally, there was an image of a Pakistani policeman: fat, slouching and looking about as threatening as the local chowkidar.
While you grin at this image, consider what he earns, and what he is expected to do. According to a recent investigative report, he is on the beat for between 12 and 14 hours a day without getting any overtime. For this, he is paid less than most chauffeurs earn. Of course there is corruption, but on the salary we pay the police, what can we expect?
Police training is patchy, and includes very little time on the firing range. So when cops are called upon to shoot, they almost invariably miss their targets. This ineptitude was most famously on display when they were confronted with the armed and dangerous terrorists who launched their devastating attack against the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore recently.
And all too often, when they arrest suspected militants after they risking their lives, they see them being released as the result of some tawdry deal the government has struck over their heads. In one case, the leader of the vicious Lashkar-i-Jhangvi was sprung from jail by Musharraf and allowed to win a National Assembly seat. Understandably, cops are reluctant to put their lives on the line when the people they arrest are released soon after they are locked up.
Then there is the whole inefficient and corrupt legal system in which people with blood on their hands are let off because of threats the judges might receive, or a bungled prosecution. Wars are not conducted by letting enemy foot soldiers and leaders walk free after being taken prisoners.
While the regular Pakistan Army is professionally trained, it has been drilled to fight the wrong war. Its present defence posture is oriented towards India, and it expects to fight on the plains of Punjab. In the Second World War, the British aimed their big guns out to sea to thwart an expected Japanese naval invasion of Singapore. But the enemy marched through a seemingly impenetrable jungle, and easily took the city. So, too, our major defences are facing in the wrong direction.
Thus far, the government has refused to accept repeated American offers to impart counter-insurgency training to our regular army. While units of the Frontier Corps have been receiving this highly specialised training, the bulk of our troops are still in the conventional war mode.
The fact is that no matter how unlikely, in the minds of our generals, the Indian army in Kashmir and along the international border constitutes a very real threat. With recent increases in defence spending, India has done little to reassure our military planners. Even a symbolic and public thinning of Indian forces from our border might serve to redeploy some units of our regular army to the northwest where the fighting is likely to get fiercer.
If we are to succeed against the many threats we face currently, we must understand that we are at war against a determined and highly motivated foe. In the face of this mortal threat to our very existence, we must unite if we are to survive. For this, it is vital that the government shows it has a plan, and the will to take the fight to the enemy.
Dawn by irfan.husain@gmail.com 
