- Joined
- Jun 17, 2011
- Messages
- 1,273
- Likes
- 1,376
By MASOOD KHAN, JUBAIL
Hard-line political parties in Pakistan often claim that as long as NATO supplies are not resumed, there will be no attacks by militants in the country.
As a matter of fact NATO supplies remain suspended for the last five months yet we witnessed another suicide blast on May 4 in the Bajur tribal agency killing at least 30 people and injuring many more.
It's a crystal clear situation wherein we don't have many options to deal with the issue of terrorism in the country. We need to either surrender, withdraw and hand over the tribal areas to these groups to govern as they like or take decisive action to eliminate and disarm these militants in order to establish the state's writ. If we don't want foreign troops on our ground, drone attacks shall continue with minimum collateral damages. Pakistan must keep pushing Americans to keep them on board while selecting and eliminating the targets.
It's only the Pakistani Army that can do the job with tactical support from its allies. Let's hope that a good sense prevails. Otherwise, the coming times are not very bright — as the Pakistani defense minister put it quite bluntly: Pakistan may face sanctions if it doesn't agree to resume the NATO supplies, militants will keep attacking the army and civilian targets to have more space in tribal areas for their proposed emirate, while hard-line political parties will keep singing songs of sovereignty. The choice is in our hands.
:taunt1:
Pakistan: Tough times ahead - Arab News
Hard-line political parties in Pakistan often claim that as long as NATO supplies are not resumed, there will be no attacks by militants in the country.
As a matter of fact NATO supplies remain suspended for the last five months yet we witnessed another suicide blast on May 4 in the Bajur tribal agency killing at least 30 people and injuring many more.
It's a crystal clear situation wherein we don't have many options to deal with the issue of terrorism in the country. We need to either surrender, withdraw and hand over the tribal areas to these groups to govern as they like or take decisive action to eliminate and disarm these militants in order to establish the state's writ. If we don't want foreign troops on our ground, drone attacks shall continue with minimum collateral damages. Pakistan must keep pushing Americans to keep them on board while selecting and eliminating the targets.
It's only the Pakistani Army that can do the job with tactical support from its allies. Let's hope that a good sense prevails. Otherwise, the coming times are not very bright — as the Pakistani defense minister put it quite bluntly: Pakistan may face sanctions if it doesn't agree to resume the NATO supplies, militants will keep attacking the army and civilian targets to have more space in tribal areas for their proposed emirate, while hard-line political parties will keep singing songs of sovereignty. The choice is in our hands.
:taunt1: Pakistan: Tough times ahead - Arab News
