Major Amin Bhai,
I fully share the pain that you must feel on account of what is going on in FATA and NWFP. There is much truth in what you say in general, and certainly what you said in your last post on this thread. Pakistan, sadly, is yet again letting down one of its biggest assets.

To be honest and fair, though, some of the BEST people I have met from Indo-Pak are Pashtuns and Punjabis. Unfortunately, the worst that I have the misfortune of knowing are also Punjabis. I keep on hoping that some day, those that are the best among them shall prevail.

I continue to live with that hope and prayer for my remaining days.

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PAVO CAVALRY I LIKED UR FOLLOWING POST ON KHALID BHATTI THAT PUNJABI CHAUVINITS ARTICLE:--

the pashtuns of tribal areas are not what Mr Jinnah the founder of Pakistan called "hopeless Punjabis" .You Punjabis were 90 % of Punjab and the Sikhs were using your Badshahi Mosque of Lahore as a Horse Stable and ypu Punjabis had invented the shuttle cock burqa so that your fair sex are not abducted by the Sikhs at will.And the knight in shining armour General Sir Hugh Gough of Bengal Army of English East India Company saved u Punjabi Muslims from being deflowered by the Sikhs.

You Punjabi Muslims cannot be compared with the indomitable tribals.

You Punjabi Muslim troops fored even at the Holy Kabaa.

Azeem Hussain son of Sir Fazl i Hussian himself a Punjabi thus quoted Jinnah " THE PUNJAB IS A HOPELESS PLACE , I WILL NEVER VISIT IT AGAIN" . You Punjabi Lotus Eaters.

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VIQAR M BHAI

THE PUNJABIS ARE HOPLELESS PEOPLE . THEY ARE THE MAJORITY AND THEY CAN PLAY A GREAT ROLE IN CORRECTING PAKISTAN .BUT THEY ARE HOPELESS CLOWNS.SO PAKISTAN WILL STAY IN TROUBLE.THATS THE SAD PART.

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Major Sahib,
This may be a bit off your major area of interest, but I ask only becasue I think it has ramifications for the action going on up in the north.

What impact, if any, do you think the forthcoming elections in Pakistan will have on the ground situation in FATA in particular, and in NWFP in the longer run?

If the polls (see Zee Sahib's projections in another thread) are right, then PML-N will have a significant presence in the coming dispensation. Given their public stance so far, do you think they will support continuation of the military operation in FATA?

P.S:- I realize that Zee Sahib feels there will be no elections, but let us assume there will be; and that, moreover, they cannot be rigged in a very major way at least.

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Waziristan



Normally the article below by Major AH Amin (Pakistan Army, Retired) would be in ANALYSIS. But because of the importance of the topic, we're printing it here. For those unfamiliar with Major Amin: he writes for a Pakistani audience and readers may find some of his references a bit oblique. We've explained best we can. He is very sharp spoken, without dissimulation or politeness. His acerbic characterization of Pakistani intelligence is, alas, all too common among the world's intelligence agencies. As for his attack on Pakistan Army tactics, the same can be said of many armies we need not name.



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.

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.

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.

The present corps commander Masud Aslam was a Kargil Warrior! (Major Amin is not being complimentary.) 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. 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.

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.

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.

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. 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.

All said and done the tribals can be dealt politically. 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.

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HP , i agree about the disbanding thing.Its good that you are in USA.There is no tolerance in Pakistan.Thats why I have been wandering, Russia,USA,Canada,Ireland,Singapore,Afghanistan.Even Afghanistan as it is now is better.At least Kabul.

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pavocavalry,

anyhow its interesting to interact with you gentlemen.

Likewise. You should host threads here for serious discussions on the subjects which are of interest to serious interactors, of which there are many.

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HP the fact is that the army top brass has always been against me.Particularly my articles since 1996.Frankly I have no personal interest in supporting any one.i am an independent analyst.

anyhow its interesting to interact with you gentlemen.

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Amin sahib,

(my basic belief is that the Paki Army cannot stand any foray by the USA .)

How many conventional armies can withstand a foray by the USA.

Regards

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you may be different than I thought but any support of these jihadis gets my goat!
I know these criminals well and know that they are army people.

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Pavo,
I have been advocating the disbanding of this army for decades.
I don't live in Pakistan. I am here is the US. In pak they will send me to jail right away!

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if chowk staff posts 5 minutes on FP we can discuss it.

HP Sain my basic belief is that the Paki Army cannot stand any foray by the USA .They are simply not that stuff.

America will use the Paki military as mercenaries since punjabis and settled area pashtuns are good mercenaries but they will do something to paki nukes.

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My Dear Mr HP or HP Sain , our discussion is a bit emotionally charged since you are an emotional man , although well meaning.

5 Minutes Over Islamabad was the result of discussions of a conference i attended in August 2007 in Kabul.My idea was that the USA would launch a surprise attack.

Presently I am busy with some immediate issues.I appreciate your concern to discuss my article which you think has some controversial assertions.May be we can meet face to face in Hyderabad or Karachi where you are based.

I am quite aware that you are keen to discuss but my feeling is that discussion often degenerates into dead ends and u become emotional or I become emotional.So in the end its not rewarding but self defeating and becomes very drab.

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HP boss, just tell him you were a bloody awful NCO - a Lance Naik and retired at Company Quarter Master Havildar! He was the man responsible for the demonitions you had from Company Havildar Major, when you spilt some tincture on accidentally) That might make him happy!

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hp, zeemax is trying to get some intelligent conversation started on chowk. calling someone a lowly major isn't helpful

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Yaar HP he's new on Chowk. Give him some time to develop a thick skin like the rest of us

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