A History of the Pakistan Army by Brian Cloughley

FEEDBACK FROM A FRIEND ON MY ARTICLE ON WAZIRISTAN:---

Major A.H. Amin (Pakistan Army, Retired)
Waziristan
Waziristan is the testing ground, the acid test of Pakistan Army's worth in the so- called war against terrorism.
What is the Pakistani intelligence ? An intelligence operative stated that they don't have the guts to go out of a fort of FC in Waziristan. They meekly step out of a Qila (fort) and stop some truck drivers and ask what's going on. From what they scramble all the guys from Military Intelligence, the ISI , the Corps Intelligence and the FC Intelligence sit down and make a generally similar report. The guy who compares all reports in GHQ jumps with joy when he sees all these reports and states that all reports can be cross checked and are correct. There is the Sab Accha mentality since Mughal times. Sab Accha means All Correct. So in the final summing it is gleefully concluded that the writ of the Pakistani Government is established in all parts of tribal areas! Glory be to Allah.

(Correct analysis. Militants are after their blood and a large number of spooks are hunkered down. Both in tribal and settled areas they have assasinated some intelligence opereratives.)

I recently met some mid-ranking and major-general level army officers and discussed Waziristan with them. We concluded: --

Waziristan is a case of clash of interests among ambitious officers trying to get a good chit (report) and serious regimental officers who see soldiering as a way of life. The fast-track guys want to bash up some villages with artillery fire and do some dog catching for Americans and improve their career index called OEI.

The first major disaster was Lt.-Gen. Safdar, a Punjabi and a careerist. He wanted a fast-track approach for the problem, .His policy was bomb everyone, kill everyone and get the feathers in the cap for being a conqueror. This was counter-productive. The armed forces lost all credibility in this area. Safdar was finally packed off to the post of director logistics in the army Headquarters a post seen as waiting area for dumped generals. (Any Corps commander will exceute GHQ policy and not his own independent one. However, two important duties are reporting facts to higher ups even if they are unpleasant and second giving honest opinion. If he thinks that he cannot carry our given orders then only honorable course is to ask reassignment or resignation. I think Safdar was chosen because of his intelligence background. Safdar became the poster child of Pakistan's ill thought policy. One day he was firing at 'terrorists' and second day he was garlanded by them at 'peace' meetings. Pakistan's credibility graph went in negative with such ill thought actions. I think he got some significant illness therefore he was removed from active command.)
Lieutenant General Hamid Khan, a Pashtun armored corps officer from 11 Cavalry was not effective. During his tenure the army was neither here nor there. He was serving for most of the time when the Waziristan accord had been signed. (Most Puhstun officers both civil and military are strong advocates of some kind of a deal and removal of regular troops from tribal areas ; the earlier the better. Iftikhar Hussain, Ali M. Orakzai, Hamid Khan worked as team. Many others are essentially on the same page. Hamid was chosen because of his earlier stint at IGFC and familiarity with the crisis.)
The present corps commander Masud Aslam was a Kargil Warrior! (Major Amin is not being complimentary. (The fortunes of Kargil warriors are well known. The absurd position of Pakistan which made it a laughing stock among professional soldiers was the fact that country denied that any of its regular soldiers were involved and then distributed a truck load of gallantry awards to dead and living who participated in the operation. Masud was commanding 80 Brigade and got a SJ. To prove that Kargil was success, Mussharraf promoted a large number of them above Lt. Col. level. At senior level, it later created an awkward position. Those Corps Commanders and senior officers who were 'Kargil Ghazis' gave full support to Mussharraf while those who were not part of it voiced opinions which sometimes ran against Chief's wishes.) He again tried to introduce the Safdar policy with disastrous results.
One Major General level divisional commander stood out. Strangely it was a Shia officer, Major General Mir Haider. (?in what capacity he was operating? 7th and 9th Div commanders are operational commanders but in view of induction of additional troops from other garrisons I don't know how this is being worked out at senior level?) Although a Punjabi he understood the Pasthun psyche and did well. His modus operandi was psy war. Healing the tribal eg . Gifting copies of Holy Quran.
Another Major General Sahi was a failure. Again he was using the Safdar approach. Kill , batter , destroy and bomb. Sahi had close links with the Quisling PML (President Musharraf's political party: the writer believes Pakistan has sold out to the Americans) as his brother was a politician from that party. In words of a direct participant officer, he was also a total failure. He was finally packed off as commandant of infantry school. Another resting place of dumped generals. In his dining out he said that he had established writ of Pakistani Government in Waziristan and was corrected there and then by a serving army officer that this was a white lie. He was challenged that he could not drive with his GOC's flag from Miran Shah to Bannu even with an escort! He was infamous in the Frontier Corps Officers for trying to prod them to attack this village or that because he wanted to get a good chit from his bosses. (I think a number of officers were shuffled to try to get some semblance of control on operations. I think GHQ wanted full control of even minor details and did not allow any room for independent action for officers in charge making things difficult. In addition, I think nobody wants to hear about any set back while engaging in a very messy operation. I don't know how much attention is being paid to the coordination between divergent group of soldiers i.e. regular troops, FC and SSG. Peshawar and Kohat GOCs were shuffled and SSG commander was prematurely retired. Another Kohat GOC was shunted away after the SSG ambush with loss of many soldiers.)
A serving army officer in that area compared Pakistan Army and the FC in Waziristan to a mouse running from point A to point B while he said that the tribals were the lazy cat watching this despicable mouse.
We further concluded:
The great danger is not Pakistan but the fall-out after its demise.
The great danger to the West is not the hopeless Pakistani state but non-state actors
The more Pakistani Don Quixotes are proved to be spineless clowns in Waziristan, the more dangerous the situation becomes.
Warfare has become cheap. It is easy to rock the boat and non-state actors are good at this.
The front is unclear. The distinction between friend and foe unclear. (Excellent summary and I agree.)
My assessment is that if the Americans decide to knock out Pakistan , in strategic terms , there will be no resistance in Punjab and Sindh ,only the Pashtuns will be their adversaries and the settled area Pashtuns will be as hopeless as the Punjabis and Sindhis. (I disagree with this assessment. I know that in Pakistan everbody believes that every American is ten foot tall and U.S. can do everything. In addition, every Station House Officer (SHO) of police station is appointed after consultation with Washington. Off course Washington has some influence but it is grossly exaggerated. It is the behaviour of Pakistanis (both official and non-official) which detremines this influence. Contrary to popular belief and all conspiracy theories rampant in Pakistan, I do not think that a destabilzied or fractured Pakistan is in U.S. interest. Washington follows its interests and not in the business of running a charity. If Pakistan agrees to work with Washington, it will get some benefits. If it decides not to work then it will not get the largesse. We charge a rent from our own son when he gets 18 and decides to stay in the house. It will be extremly naive for Pakistanis to expect that they will get regular checks from Washington without any strings attached. Important thing is to focus on common interests and try not to be romantic. There may be disagreements about how to tackle non-state actors but in my humble view rise of non-state actors of all varieties is a threat to every nation state. It is a recipe for anarchy and Pakistan is already suffering from its ill effects. It is upto Pakistanis to decide how they are going to cope up with this painful problem. Those who are targeting worshippers in mosques or dragging members of different sects from buses and summaralily executing them are no freinds of Pakistan.)
Pakistan's military and political establishment is simply hopeless. This theme is discussed in my article "5 minutes over Islamabad" (the article details how the US forced Pakistan to join it's side in the GWOT.) The Pakistani military junta has already lost all credibility with the Pakistani population and cannot control the situation.
Even the Americans will not achieve much if they enter Waziristan. The terrain is bad and Americans will be a good cause for Jihad. (Looking at the ignorant and arrogant way of some of the U.S. military policies of recent past, direct U.S. involvement may speed up the process of fragmentation of Pakistan and may further destabilize Afghanistan rather than helping curbing the violence.) The solution is withdrawal from Waziristan and regime change in Pakistan. The Americans should let the hopeless Paki politicians do the dirty job of all this.
As an officer who served in Pakistan Army I would sum up the situation as following:
The Pakistani High Command a Punjabi-Mohajir (Mohajirs are Pakistans who migrated from India to the new country of Pakistan in/after 1947) team lacks the grey matter or resolve to deal with the tribals.
The troops they are commanding have lost faith in the cause they are fighting for. This is the worst thing for an army. (Army is the last and not the first instrument to be used in such situations. When all is said, in a multiethnic country like Pakistan, army is the only institution which can act as a temporary measure against a serious internal threat. If army fractures along existing faultlines then this is a recipe for a prolonged civil war. On my recent trip, I visited a battalion. I think despite serious pressures, the professionalism and discipline maintained by armed forces is admirable. We are fighting wars in foreign lands (Iraq & Afghanistan) but in 2006 about 1300 soldiers went AWOL while the number in 2007 was about 1400. Looking at this I think Pakistan army has done well although it paid a price. Having said that every effort should be made not to stretch it to the limits especially in the context of internal security duties.)
All said and done the tribals can be dealt politically. (Lot of things can be achieved quitely without any fanfare. Both Washington and Islamabad need to learn that simple fact.) Any Pakistani officer who is posted as commander 11 Corps is a job seeker. He is trying to be a Napoleon and a Punjabi cannot be a Napoleon with a tribal!
The present Governor of NWFP Owais Ghani has already miserably failed in Baluchistan. He is regarded as a non-Pashtun as he is the hated Hindko Punjabi (we dont know what Hindko means; Hind generally refers to India) speaking from Peshawar city just like General Kakar, whose first cousin he is.
The whole situation requires a change in command in Pakistan from top to bottom.

Since Mussharraf is connected with everything which has gone wrong therefore even if now he wants to sincerely do something it is very diffciult for him to accomplish anything. The minimum requirement is that he should leave the scene. Although the popularity graph of army is at its lowest ebb, however if things go further sour with large scale and more bloody violence then everyone will look at the army. Everything is relative. There is an old saying that 'show them the death and they will love fever'. New army chief has to then chart out new course. He would prefer to work behind the scene a la General Aslam Beg.

Washington needs to understand the complexity and gravity of the situation. We can not afford to ignore painful lessons of Iraq. Our every ill thought action generated problems which were worse than the original issue which we intend to solve. I think our ignorance coupled with arrogance has only given us grief and caused more misery around the globe and made us less safe. There are genuine problems and threats but I think a different approach is needed. It is better to live with some nuances to avoid serious headaches. Perspectives need to be changed. There are only few venomous insects which can seriously endanger life. However there are a number of fleas. A flea can not kill it's victim but if it gets into the pants it can make life miserbale. One can not work, sleep or enjoy life. Problems of Pakistan will be solved only by Pakistanis. A stable, peaceful and prosperous Pakistan is in U.S. interest. A Pakistan where every Pakistani is part of the nation. A weak Pakistan with numerous non-state actors is a nightmare for everyone.

Re: # 177 many dams are in the pipeline.Kabul river has already been dammed where it could at Naghlu Sarobi and Darunta upstream of Jalalabad.After Darunta Kabul river enters open plains and this continues till the paki border when it goes through a defile again at Shilman.Here the Afghans cannot make a dam as its not geographically possible.Kunar the major feeder of Kabul which comes from Pakistani Chitral can be dammed although the catchment would be small and would not affect Pakistan too much.This would take up to 5 to 10 years.But Kunar can be played with by Pakistan also as it is controlled upstream by Pakistan. Although Paki manipulation of Kunar would also be nominal due to terrain.Major dam being built is Salma on Hari Rud in Herat province.Angelique from India is doing that.

Re: # 182 It is stated by some airforce guys that Paki Air Chief P.Q Mehdi took the stand with Musharraf that he would not commit the airforce as Musharraf wanted since this could trigger an open war with India.

NOTE ON JAPANESE OCCUPATION OF BURMA FOR TAHMED 32:---

The primary was warding off the threat of a British offensive,and the second would be the capture and consolidation of the Japanese holdon Imphal,which would give them a lodgement on India's eastern front.....They had no plans to overstretch or invade India as such,but only to consolidate their hold on Burma and keep the British in a state of continual unbalance:--

Authority :--Matthews G, RECONQUEST OF BURMA 1943-45 , Gale and Polden, Aldershot , 1966 , Pages 34-35

#180 Posted by bulleya,

I get your distinction between administration and management. Very interesting. Thanks for the insight.

Perhaps you're right after all. But I do see many retired Officers as entrepreneurs, particularly in the security business. I even know a retired major (a very good friend) who set up one of the biggest high-fashion garment export business in Karachi for the very high-end European boutique markets. This requires real talent. But perhaps he's an exception. Generally I suppose you're right.

However I persist in my stand that Military training inculcates particular values / skills which private enterprise is unable to do. Like committed teamwork for example.

After directing helicopter gunships to attack pakistani muslims in Swat, in the course of ordering the PAF planes to bomb Waziristan, the NWFP governer recorded the following. From Jang of today
/////////////////////////////

PESHAWAR: NWFP Governor, Owais Ahmad Ghani has said that Pakistan on the struggle of the Kashmiris salutes them and added that the day was not far, when the Kashmiris would get their right of self determination and their dream would come true.

NWFP Governor was addressing a ceremony on Kashmir Day here, which was attended by NWFP caretaker Chief Minister, Shamsul Mulk, provincial ministers, high government and civil officials, school students and a large number of tribesmen.

Governor Owais Ghani said that Pakistan wanted Kashmir issue resolved under UN resolutions and in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiris. He said that the people of Kashmir were being exploited and no opportunity of tormenting them spiritually was spared. He further said that President Pervez Musharraf initiated improving ties and holding peace talks, but India has now shifted from its stand.

#176 by ahmedmadani

Also were airplanes were involved much in Kargil problem ? Why they were not involved ? Due to bad weather,snow storms can blind airmachine ?

Madani Sahib, Indian fighter jets pounded Paki positions throughout the Kargil conflict, so bad weather cannot be an excuse for not involving the PAF.

Re: # 178
He was one of richest man on earth. And nobody had right to decide fate of kingdom. This great Kingdom lasted almost 250 years. With death of Alamgir in think 1707 upto almost 1950. That is more than English empire in time wise. It is said nehru and patel were waiting for mahatma and QAMA to die and then they snatched all wealth of Nizam and make him Pauper. He died very poor compared when he was Nizam Ul Mulk.Indian govt even stopped his stiped at end and he had no money to help his household servants.

Ans: These Nizams were simple looters of wealth. Not creators.So, it was justified for Indian Govt. ( after 1951, when consitution was formed) to take away all the wealth. It should be state property. In India, a lot of land owners has lost their land due to land reforms act ( My family is owning a fraction of what my grandpa had left. Rest was distributed on the farm workers). Why there should be exception? I am not aware of any good activity of the Nizams in Hyd (AP). It is not Patel, who has decided as personal ability. It is the Home Minister of Govt. of India, had taken decision based on the rules framed in Constitution.
Regarding Kashmir, if Maharaja Hari Sing has not committed the blunder, the Kashmir problem should not happened. As a functioning democracy (nobody questions the nature of Indian democracy), Central Govt. has the right to acquire any property, within India.
The worst decision, Nehru had taken, was to kick out Multi-National Companies. They were wealth creators and were major source of technology ( Burn Standard, Dunlop, Reckit & Coleman, IBM). If Hong Kong was transferred to China 50 years ago, it would have been different story.

zeemax #: "The army Officer training does produce sound people management skills, and that's what counts in business. Any business. Do grant the army that!..."

the military teaches two things......discipline and administration.......it does not teach management.....this is true for all militaries of the world.....

what is the difference between management and administration, you may ask......management is for organizations, which work on a profit & loss basis......administration is for organizations, which do not, and have a fixed budget that is given to them, which they need to utilize.......

management is, thus, orders of magnitude more difficult than administration.....management is for entrepreneurs and corporate leaders......administration is for burecrats.....

i have always felt it is easier to spend one crore ruppees than it is to earn one ruppee......the former requires adminstration, the later requires management......

a military person in the civil sector will be good in the following areas:

- if the military person is technical (doctor, engineer etc.) and is on any such assignment
- if the military person has a job which requires being a follower in a disciplined manner
- if the military person is in a job which requires administrating a very large group, but does not have a P&L aspect associated with it

i know very very few retired military officers who have had successful business careers (independent of awt or fauji foundation or real estate, where they can use their influence and military contracts).......

it is as difficult for any military person to be a successful manager in private enterprise as it is for a corporate manager to be an f-16 squadron commander or a armour brigade commander.....

Ahmed madani sahib,

If you think that Hyd had the right to decide its own fate, why deny it to Kashmir.

The GOI not only stopped the privy purse of Nizam but also all other rulers- Hindus/Muslims alike in 1972.

Regards

Re: # 174 HH Nizam Asafshah was sovern ruler of State of Nizam (Hyderbad). He was one of richest man on earth. And nobody had right to decide fate of kingdom. This great Kingdom lasted almost 250 years. With death of Alamgir in think 1707 upto almost 1950. That is more than English empire in time wise. It is said nehru and patel were waiting for mahatma and QAMA to die and then they snatched all wealth of Nizam and make him Pauper. He died very poor compared when he was Nizam Ul Mulk.Indian govt even stopped his stiped at end and he had no money to help his household servants. He was good king for everybody and was giving money to all people all times . There was saying " Ek Nizam and SUB HAZAM".Nobody has any right to go in other nations and bargain them. His ancestor helped to kill Tipu whowas not respectful of him. Nizam was kind man even british govt did not give justice to Nizam state as Birar was taken over and made british terrotory. Nizam was too shrewd to be provoked by british and get shot.
That case can be taken to world court in Europe , but nobody take interest as nobody pays respect to sinking sun.

Now I do know you people are too scientic minded but lack common sense and feel my thinking is wrong. Let me respect you argument water after its energy taken is same, i do not believe but we can agree to disagree.

Amin sahib,

A'stan's geography suggests that Bhakra type dams wud be next to impossible to construct.

In India these days the tendency in Himalayan region is to go for "run of the river" kind of hydel plants. These minimise submergence, ecological damage and are least likely to cause earthquakes. Further as land loss is minimum you save on cost of compensatory afforestation and most importantly you dont displace too many people which is often the biggest cause of cost and time overruns. On the flip side of course you dont have any water storage or irrigation potential.

Wud run of the river projects be feasible on the tributaries of River Kabul and I suppose Pak wont oppose it either.


Ahmedmadani sahib,

(Once you take power out of water it is not healthy to humans and animals and even crops)

Although you try to sound like a bumpkin I am convinced that u are one of the most learned members of chowk. I know you are writing this only to pull my leg but I wont fall for your bait.

It might interest you that one Indian politician Ch. Devi Lal of Haryana once made this argument in an election and won the elections hands down.

Regards

Re: # 172 I wonder airplanes were not involved in 1965 ?

Also were airplanes were involved much in Kargil problem ? Why they were not involved ? Due to bad weather,snow storms can blind airmachine ?

#173 Posted by pavocavalry,

Thanks for the detail!

Amin sahib,

(why India and Pakistan have such large armies .)

First of all, Indo-Pak relations were not doomed to be bad. The biggest source of the problem had been Kashmir and a part of the fault lies with MAJ (pbuh) and ML. Had they accepted the principle that majority principle determines the fate of princely states, Kashmir wud have been part of Pakistan, Hyderabad and Junagadh wud have gone to India (India in 1947 wud have happily traded off J&K for a free hand in Hyderabad) and a serious dispute wud have been averted. It was MAJ (pbuh) cupidity wrt Hyd, Rajputana and J’gadh which messed up the whole thing.

Btw, even if Indo-Pak relations were good India wud still have maintained a large army- big power ambitions and long, troubled border with a superpower China. It is quite possible of course that Pakistan may have spent less on their own armed forces, unless Pak leadership developed big power ambitions of their own.

( Further under Cabinet Mission there would have been no mass migration and genocide.)

(Forced) Mass migration was restricted to Punjab and (Hindu emigration from) Sindh. The emigration of Muslims from UP and Bihar was to a some extent voluntary and there was hardly much movement in Bengal and Assam at all. So to say that mass migration and genocide were a logical corollary of Partition is unfair.

A great violence in Punjab was because of Lord M advancing the Partition date from 1948 to 1947 and Britain’s premature withdrawl and abdication of authority in Indian sub-continent.

And Cabinet Mission wud not have been painless either, Hindu/Sikh majorities in Western Bengal and Eastern Punjab wud have still insisted on their dominated regions of B/P being a part of the “Indian/Hindu” grouping or even a Partition of B/P with each segment being part of India without reference to other “Indian” groupings.

Btw, quite surprised to see Paki Muslims who have been the biggest beneficiaries of Partition opposing it. Never knew that Independence wud be unwelcome to anyone.

Regards

Re: # 171 Most of the water of the Kabul River comes from Kunar River which comes from Pakistan.The second major source is Panjsher River which can be dammed but will not affect Pakistan.The third source is Laghman River which is quite small.River Kabul enters the mountains just near the border and if this place is dammed the lake would be too wide and impractical.The Russians did many studies on this aspect and it was given up as impossible.