Attack in Mohmand

The recent attack on Frontier Corps (FC) post in Mohmand Agency is the first major US step in arm twisting the hopeless new Pakistani democratic set up. The Pakistani media barren as it is in reporting fallaciously called this a NATO attack. The fact of the matter is that there are no NATO troops in this area i.e Kunar and Nangrahar Provinces of Afghanistan but only American troops.

This is not an isolated incident or any random event by any chance. There appears to be a strong evolving consensus in the USA as well as its NATO allies that Pakistan is the centre of gravity of the Islamists in the ongoing so called war on terror. More exactly there is a growing certainty in US decision making circles that Pakistan's tribal areas are the heartland of the ongoing anti US low intensity war in the region.This idea gained currency in various high US policy making circles as well as think tanks around 1987-89 and then assumed a solid shape in the decade 1990-2000. After 2001 it was adopted as a policy and concrete albeit top secret planning was started to deal with Pakistan which at the ulterior level was seen as part of the problem rather than a solution. By 2008 major US decision making figures such as Director FBI and Director DIA made these statements about Pakistan's tribal areas.

Now with a weak and unstable government in Pakistan USA has embarked on the first step towards strategic arm twisting of Pakistan. A small but serious tactical ingress. Casualties include an army major which makes the matter larger than an attack on mere non regular FC soldiers. Something larger can come but all depends on Pakistani government response which predictably will be meekish and submissive. Already pedants are in the crucial echelons on the Pakistan side. Their responses will be irresolute and Pakistan's government will further lose its credibility in the tribal belt and the Pashtun area. An army of 600,000 with long range nuclear weapons but no resolution to do anything. A force which is " Neither Here Nor There!"

The action will send a strong message to the Pakistani army also. Two liasion officers one a lieutenant colonel and a major from Pakistan Army are stationed at the US airbase in Bagram and as per agreement are supposed to accompany US forces in all actions in Afghanistan. These officers must have reported the matter to the Pakistani GHQ. All this is a part of psychological warfare of the Americans.

In strategy everything moves very slowly and it is the greatness of a statesman and military commander to assess what will happen in next 5 or ten years. Here in Pakistan we have a situation where our military leaders are overawed by just one phone call! From leaders of such a caliber little resolution or strategic insight can be expected. To compound this further now we have politicians in chair who go rushing like crazy rabbits to pay their homage to the US president in some dubious summit in Egypt. Sycophancy par excellence!

If Saddam was destroyed on the mere suspicion that Iraq possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction why is Pakistan not a perfectly legitimate target for USA, because it is a Muslim country and posseses WMD without any doubt! Saddam was more secular than any Muslim leader in modern history yet his country and he himself were targeted and destroyed. What is the aim of this so called enlightened Islam espoused by Musharraf and now many Pakistani politicians in power. To act as anesthesia for USA and destroy all resistance power of the Pakistani nation. In war surprise is the key so the USA will not politely announce its intentions before it reduces Pakistan to size.

The Mohmand incident is a watershed. Initially the US target were the tribals but in this case Pakistan's army signified by the fact that the FC although an irregular force is controlled by Pakistan Army through officers ranking from captain to major general. From all indicators it appears that the attack was deliberately planned and sanctioned at the highest level in USA. Its no random case of an overzealous local commander getting itcy with his small arms. Artillery and aircrafts were used from a forward air base in Kunar province and Afghan National Army used to do the small tactical errands.

The conclusion is that Pakistan is led by leaders if one may call collaborators as such, who will go to any extent to survive while its nuclear and military assets would be destroyed with partial or active cooperation of its own leaders! The aim is to sell wheat export road permits for 50,000 MT to Afghanistan which will be multiplied by 5. The aim is a mad looting party in name of privatisation. Fear made men believe in the worst but here in Pakistan we have a scenario in which Pakistan's leaders are trying to sell the idea that timid strategic collaboration is strategic brilliance. A secret clause of Vision 2030 propaganda of Pakistani sitting leadership is that by 2030 Pakistan would be a Balkanised state with no nuclear and missile assets and kicked by all its neighbours. Good luck to vision 2030 !

If this was Iran the USA would have seriously thought a million times before attacking. But the Americans know that the Pakistanis, at least those at the highest level can be kicked at will and they can stand any amount of kicking.