Operation NWA to dent Pak Army

Saturday, August 18, 2012 - THOUGH there have been contradictory statements from internal and foreign sources but with the passage of every day some developments lead one to believe that Pakistan was quite close to launching a formal operation in North Waziristan Agency under intensive pressure of the United States.

There is again a denial, though feeble one, by the most relevant authority i.e. Corps Commander Peshawar Lt. General Khalid Rabbani who has dismissed as ‘speculations’ reports of an impending military operations in the region. But qualifying sentences that no decision had been taken ‘so far’ and ‘no such decision is in front of me’ speak volumes about the nature of the denial. He also added that political ownership and national consensus were pre-requisites for any decision to launch a military operation in North Waziristan. His choice of words and tone and tenor clearly conveys the impression that the Government is looking for a way out to undertake the operation as it did in the case of Swat. We have been warning in these columns and would do so once again that the Government and the Army must resist from proceeding further on this suicidal path. Any operation in NWA could plunge the country into more darkness and one can imagine the possibility of many more Kamra like attacks in its wake. Pakistan Army already has too much on its plate and it cannot afford to open a new front just to please Americans but causing dent to its own reputation as an institution. Pakistan must stick to its principled position that any particular intelligence should be shared with it and our own Army could launch, if necessary, just targeted attacks to eliminate any threat.