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| An unwinnable war |
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Sunday, November 22, 2009
Lt-Col (r) Mukhtar Ahmed Butt has rebutted Umar Khalil's views on the Operation Rah-e-Nijat (November 21). Col Butt claims that our army is fighting guerrillas who have an advantage to attack and disappear. The former soldier should know that the inferior force always employs 'hit-and-run' tactics against a superior force. And the superior force doesn't always win. Had it been otherwise, US-led NATO troops would have wiped off the Taliban in Afghanistan. Troops of about 40 countries, with all their military wherewithal and financial resources, have failed to subdue the ragtag Taliban. I recently heard Gordon Brown on the BBC, saying that "(the Taliban) don't bring their brigades to face our brigades; they're cowards who believe in sly methods." I can only term Mr Brown naïve at best.
The problem with military men is that they only believe in the use of force to tackle intricate issues. Such methods only provide temporary relief; they never extinguish the fire completely. Col Butt asserts that foreign agencies are involved in destabilising the country. I suppose he means India. I have a question for him. Can India interfere in FATA without the tacit approval of the US? Isn't then our ally, the US, playing a double game? The US is treating us not as its ally but its satrapy. We have allowed ourselves to be sucked in the vortex of the American war of energy and regional domination. Would we come out unscathed?
Dr A P Sangdil
Oslo, Norway
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ISSN 1563-9479 
