Caught in no-man`s land

The militant attack on the ISI office in Sukkur earlier in the week underlined the need for a comprehensive counterterrorism strategy.

And how do we respond? We reignite the debate over the ownership of a war that has now taken thousands of lives, left an equal number maimed or injured and scarred the psyche of millions of Pakistanis.

It`s been over a decade that the then military strongman, Gen Pervez Musharraf, took that call from US official Richard Armitage in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and almost immediately agreed to all his demands under threat of being bombed `back to the Stone Age`.

The US bombing campaign in Afghanistan that followed and then the arming and rapid advance on Kabul by the Northern Alliance and the `strategic retreat` of the Afghan Taliban and Pakistan`s `logistical support to the US` may have aroused anger here.

But can we say hand on heart that it was the only trigger for the mayhem that`s been inflicted on our country and people? We`d be terribly naïve to suggest any such thing. The seeds of what we face today were sown during support to another US campaign in the same country some 20 years earlier.

No point crying over spilt milk. Like there is no point in reminiscing about how lovely, serene and peaceful the past was. A generation has grown up in Pakistan (or is it two?) that knows no peace.

The attack on the ISI office in Sukkur, said to be the first in Sindh`s third biggest city, and its location took me back to happy times, to car journeys during my father`s time in the services in the 1960s. A stone`s throw from the ISI office, I believe, is the Circuit House.

We must have stoppedthere several times in the 1960s. It`s beautifully manicured lawns, grand large rooms with very high ceilings and welcoming staff keen to make you feel at home any way they could, starting with a steaming cup of tea for the grown-ups and chilled orange/mango juice for us.

Once you had washed away the travel dust and fatigue in a bath the size of a hockey field, within half an hour, and almost magically, food appeared dal, steamed rice, freshly made chapattis and at least one saalan (curry) usually chicken or, if you preferred, anday aaloo (boiled and potato).

Given how awful the roads were then and how basic the shock absorbers on our car, a nice bath, food that tasted like it had been created by a gourmet chef, and a relaxing stroll in the enormous garden caressed by the cool breeze coming from the almost adjacent Indus had you ready for sleep.

You could easily confuse yourself with a character from the Raj as you sunk in the soft embrace of the comfortable mattress and pillows of a huge bed. It was only after a rushed breakfast in the morning when you squeezed yourself back into the very basic family Skoda that you were reminded of your reality.

Once we also stayed at the then delightful InterPak Inn. I think it was built and owned by the national flag carrier or one of its subsidiary companies then. Its rooms weremuch smaller than the nearby Circuit House but its staff had trained at the InterContinental Hotel, Karachi, and the menu was fairly elaborate.

Those were the days when democracy had still to surface in the country and though an underground movement for change was under way, it was entirely peaceful. So, it was not a surprise that the only concern my father had as we strolled towards the barrage was that the car battery was acting up.

It would be unwise of me to return to the present only when the next explosion shatters some more lives in one or another part of my beloved land. But surely, the concern ought not to be yours and mine alone. What about those entrusted with our security?It is clear that the army and its security services have taken a massive hit in this war we are unable to even own up to (or successfully dissociate ourselves from) and continues, along with the valiant police/paramilitary forces of KP in particular, to take heavy casualties.

Many defenders of the ISI have attacked its critics and say that the agency is solely responsible for protecting the country from those that seek to harm it be they `foreign powers` or Al Qaeda or most notably the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.

They credit the agency with almost all terrorist `kills or captures` and point out the example of one Karachi police unit that has had major `successes` against the TTP but in effect only owns up to ISI arrests of militants and does the legal/court work so the agency remains behind the scenes.

The idea here isn`t to comment on, condemn or condone the agency`s political role but to assess if the country`s premier security agency, which has also lost physical assets and personnel, in the war against terrorism is now geared up for the challenge.When you ask knowledgeable professionals their response is mixed. This simply reflects the confusion at the policymaking level. Sources familiar with the workings of the agency suggest that its counterterrorism wing is clued in and knowledgeable.

However, the pulls and pushes of the agency department entrusted with `running` the Afghan operation often tend to work at cross-purposes with the wing. The sad bit is that the elected political leadership has so far either been incapable of taking charge or hasn`t been allowed to.

And the military leadership finds itself in a sort of `noman`s land` between the defence doctrines of Ziaul Haq`s (suicidal) international jihad and Musharraf`s (hypocritical and equally ineffective) enlightened moderation calling for duplicitous support to the West.

`Till these contradictions are resolved. Rest assured all of us are condemned to live with uncertainty, murder and mayhem casting an ominous shadow over our future,` says one former military officer. •

The writer is a former editor of Dawn. abbas.nasir@hotmail.com