Biased Against The Army?

By Muhammad Sannan

Americans came. Americans did their job. Americans went home, and all this while our army slept. That is what is being shouted around by the citizens of Pakistan, the analysis of the operation now colloquially known as the ‘Abbotabad Raid’. The aftermath of this military operation has had it all. Feelings of Joy on the end of terror, Spasms of angst on the great Martyrdom, Allegations of incompetence by the media, Some allegations of complicity by the same media, a lonely few cries proclaiming the breach of sovereignty. And the ultimate conclusion put up by our countrymen, announcing that for all its purpose, the army has come out as being practically useless. What were they being paid for?

It couldn’t even defend its own territory.

Fine. Lets discuss this. We’re saying that the ‘Army Walay’ couldn’t hold their own against an army, implying that they are utter losers, incapable of defending the land whose existence isn’t justified anymore. Normally, I would agree with this. But against which military were we (supposedly) trying to defend ourselves. The American Army. Yup, that’s right. The same army which is waging war on two fronts simultaneously and still has enough force left to monopolize UNSC and NATO. The same army, of which all the countries worldwide import equipment, including Pakistan. The same army which has a defense budget of more than 600$ Billion against Pakistan’s tiny 5$ Billion. I can simply go on and on about it….Against them, Yes, a failure means our army is incompetent!

Preposterous!

But still, most of our countrymen do think this way. And this is wrong in fundamentals.
And even worse is, our ‘youth’, the ultimate deliverers of Pakistanis from their drudgery, the personification of objectivity and liberalism, is taking it all in quite a similar way. And they have been demoralized because of it all, I fear, almost irreparably.

I remember the time in my university, right after the attacks. All of us, had suddenly started liking library a little more. Not for any academic purposes though, rather only to discuss the current news. Normally a dull place, It had become pretty active, with loud discussions going on everywhere. They were a charged few days, and I got to hear all sorts of post-action analysis by the students. And they weren’t optimistic.

' It’s a defeat ….', said one of my friends.

‘We have totally lost our honour…….’, said another.

Loud debates were going on all around me, and I remember myself thinking at that time, is this even an issue?  Is basing the performance of our military against that of Americans, a legitimate comparison?

I think I saw a pattern in those few days. Today, as we all happily blast away at the failures of the armed forces, the issue doesn’t even remain one of this particular incident. It is now about the thoughts pervading in the society. The mentality that the ‘Army’ is useless for all but property dealing.

 Regarding that, I asked another one of my friends, Muhammad Saad, about what he thinks about the competence of our Military. And again, I didn’t quite get the attitude I was looking for.

“When has Pakistan ever been able to defend this land? Take any statistics from war of 48' to the war on terror; we have always lost our land. If only our generals made some effort to resolve the conflicts within the army and the establishment. They can’t seem to get enough time from playing golf and buying plots in the Defense Society…..”

And he went on and on…..

“……As testified by the former Naval Rear Admiral, radicalization is on ever high with the armed forces. Many of the air force pilots refuse to fly their planes to Waziristan area because they "supposedly don’t want to kill their fellow innocent country men”. According to NY Times "Everyone seems to know ISI's job except the ISI……"

Alright.All I want to ask is, why are we even so fussed about the Army’s incompetence and not so much about the failures of the nation in general? Whatever has happened, be it the ever continuing terrorist activities, or the Military's internal conflict and politics, it is not a thing that should cause us all to be so finicky about the Army. The Military is an institution of this land, and just like the whole society that already has, it is going to be affected by the ongoing crisis as well. Of course there are going to be some shortcomings then. So, why are we still so critical in our judgments about the army? May be it is because we have always considered them to be the flawless, ever present reset-button that will set things straight after we have messed up all that we can. But this reset button is not functioning anymore. Load-shedding is the order of the day, and there is no electricity left in the military ‘machine’ to protect us from the consequences of our actions.

The thing to be understood is that we should take all the events surrounding the armed forces in an objective manner.  We complain about the military being unable to stop the suicide attacks? Just take a minute and imagine yourself tasked with stopping an anonymous looking terrorist among millions in (let's say) a market, or protecting the base under your command from a terrorist attack, not knowing when a person might emerge from the swarm of people and explode. It must be pretty straightforward right? NOT!

 Or is it that we complain about the army subjugating to Americans? Then, put yourself in Gen. Kiyani’s position. You are the protector of each and every citizen of Pakistan, with the fate of millions thrust in your hands. What would you do? Wage a blind war against the ‘infidels’ for daring to encroach on our airspace or try to prevent a conflict, and stop the utter annihilation of your countrymen.

Now, dont even think, as many will, that i am being an 'Army' lover zealously trying to defend it's actions, as i'm not. I am in no way trying to justify their failings. The fact that our military isn’t prepared for unconventional threats as the terrorists, doesn’t absolve them of the responsibility of protecting us, the Pakistani citizens. Nor is the inferiority of the army, a justification for them to continue bowing to their American masters. No matter how hard it may be to deal with these influences, a failure is a failure nonetheless. It is necessary for us, however, to take it all in a patient and rational manner, not letting our emotions cloud our thinking and putting it all in context. That's all i'm saying.

In the end, what is required is that we look at the performance of the Military in a manner, unburdened by biases. We should not let the Anti-Army hatred get the better of us. Instead, we can serve our energies in a positive way. By providing a solution to various command deficiencies in the military, or about other inefficiencies like the ones stated by Saad, the tendency of the army to focus more on their comforts rather than on the battlefield. But again, it is vitally important not to let the Anti-army bias creep in. Objective discussion and debate is the order of the day, and is the only way we can move forward.

                                                     The writer is currently a student at NBS