Call it a naiveté or criminal ignorance being demonstrated by certain international players to fulfill their moral obligation to acknowledge the service which our armed forces are performing with full dedication and same zeal which famous scientist Albert Einstein described in his article “a hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving”. Are they looking through their own prism as described in the analogy that half of the glass is empty rather than saying that `half of the glass is full of water’? Pakistan should assert that a proper introspection with some degree of pragmatism may be conducted.
Granted, some of our allies in the GWoT are not happy with our performance. Let us suppose Alpha or Bravo armies can win the war. What others have achieved is no mystery to the world either now. If the criterion is that which is the best army in the world that can win a foreign power with its far superior, state of the art equipment, vast resources, planning and ability to form alliance with the other powerful countries of this world, then Pakistan lags far behind. On the one hand, Pakistan being asked to gear up her efforts to achieve best results is being pulled down and dragged into the crises by India, on the other our allies are turning a blind eye to her activities. Had Pakistan received some measure of support on any issue like water row, Kashmir flashpoint, Sir Creek or Siachen, our defence forces would have become more emboldened in their resolve to fight against terrorists.
Every Pakistani is bewildered when the call to `do more’ is given despite the glaring fact our armed forces are already performing to the best of their capability and competence. Our soldiers have a long history of rushing to the assistance of civilian administration during emergency situations and natural disasters. In reality, no one bothers to ask what is their yardstick to measure the degree of success in the given set of problems and available resources. They are not realizing that Pakistan suffered 16,2352 deaths of civilian due to drone attacks, martyrdom of 5,000 security personnel, 35-40000 in suicide bombing and $50 billion damage till May 16, 2011. Our armed forces and intelligence agencies are well-developed and fully prepared to take on any threat posed to the national integrity. They are guarding the eastern borders as well as doing their best on the western frontiers to weed out the menace of terrorism. It would be wrong to assume that Pakistani defence forces are India-centric. Since most of the problems the country faces at this critical juncture invariably take their roots from India, it is but natural that the needle of suspicion would often wiggle towards New Delhi.
Pakistani armed forces and intelligence agencies are well-developed and fully prepared to take on any threat posed to the national integrity. They are keeping their vigil on eastern borders as well as doing their best on the western frontiers to weed out the menace of terrorism. It would be wrong to assume that Pakistani defence forces are India-centric. Since most of the problems the country faces at this critical juncture invariably take their roots from India, it is but natural that the needle of suspicion would often wiggle towards New Delhi. Moreover her militarization has also massively increased during the last five years with a massive increase of their defence budge i.e. 72%.
Pakistani forces in times of trial have to make choices whether to heed their own assessment of threat or to give priority to what outsiders expect of them? We have rendered enormous sacrifices and suffered much more casualties compared to one the coalition forces faced in Afghanistan. Our commitment should not be undermined. Our armed forces are fighting multi-dimensional wars, domestic, international, invisible, self-deprecating offensives. The fog of confusion and whirlwinds of controversies is multiplying our losses. It is time to stand behind our forces with all our social, moral, religious, political, economic and spiritual support to fight against enemy every tooth and nail as an organ of the state to defend our motherland.