Govt asked to stabilise internal situation: Karamat opposes long involvement of army

[Khehkeshan]

At least we have one ex-general with some level of credibility. Too bad it showed up only after he’s leaving the government.

http://www.dawn.com/2006/06/04/top1.htm

Govt asked to stabilise internal situation: Karamat opposes long involvement of army

By Anwar Iqbal

WASHINGTON, June 3: Pakistan’s outgoing Ambassador to Unites States, Gen Jehangir Karamat, has advised the government not to involve the army ‘for too long’ in Waziristan and Balochistan because it can be ‘counterproductive’ to do so. He emphasised dialogue to resolve these issues.

Gen Karamat, who leaves for Islamabad later on Saturday after representing Pakistan in Washington for two years, dismissed media speculation as ‘baseless rumours’ that he had been asked to head an interim government before the 2007 elections.

In a wide-ranging interview to Dawn, Gen Karamat said: “We should try to institutionalise our relations with the US and strengthen the Karzai government in Afghanistan because it is in our interest to do so.”

He said that without political and economic stability at home, it would be difficult to project a positive image of Pakistan abroad.

Gen Karamat, also a former army chief, said that in 1997 he could have toppled the Nawaz Sharif government but he did not, because he thought it was not ‘in the national interest’ to undo a democratically elected government.

He said the general impression that Mr Sharif had sacked him was wrong. He recalled that in some statements he had criticised the attitude of the then government towards the Supreme Court. Mr Sharif told him it was not right for a general to publicly criticise the government, he said.

At this stage, Gen Karamat said, he came to the conclusion that it would be better for him to quit than to impose yet another martial law on the country.

The ambassador said he believed the US administration was not seeking direct access to Dr A.Q. Khan and the sudden interest some members of Congress were showing in him was linked to Congressional hearing on the Indo-US deal, which had revived interest in all things nuclear.

Describing the 2007 elections as ‘a huge opportunity’ to establish democracy in Pakistan, he said both PPP and the PML-N should be allowed to participate in these polls.

He, however, advised the leaders of these parties - Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif - not to let their personal interests prevail over party interests.

He acknowledged that in the US Pakistan was routinely blamed for whatever happened in Afghanistan, but pointed out that the sudden increase in insurgency had been caused by summer which allowed insurgents to enhance their activities.

Gen Karamat also advised the Afghan government not to raise these issues publicly and discuss them at the trilateral forum created for the purpose. The forum includes representatives from Pakistan, Afghanistan and the US.

[TheRealDeal]

Re: Govt asked to stabilise internal situation: Karamat opposes long involvement of army

When they are in power, they only care about their pockets, out of power they can be ‘wiser’

Shame a once professional fighting force has lost so much respect of the people of Pakistan

http://www.dawn.com/weekly/mazdak/20060603.htm

But this is one of the problems of living under a military dispensation: just as a politician finds jobs for his voters, a dictator tries to find employment for his constituents to keep them happy. In today’s Pakistan, over a thousand retired and serving military officers are working in just about every civilian organisation. Corps commanders run the provinces they are posted in. Recently, it was reported that in Punjab, police officers threatened to resign en masse if yet more army personnel were inducted into their service.

Pakistan is now coming to resemble a vast military garrison: gigantic industrial empires, sprawling housing colonies, and an interlocking network of departments headed by military officers have come to occupy the commanding heights of the country. Supposedly, this has been done in the name of efficiency and clean government. But the reality is that this naked militarisation benefits only the officers involved in it. The people of Pakistan have gained nothing: on the contrary, they have watched helplessly as, yet again, their elected government was dismissed, their institutions destroyed and their Constitution trampled under the military jackboot.

Army officers tend to ignore criticism as petty carping from ‘those bloody civvies’. And yet, General Musharraf should be concerned about the growing distance between ordinary Pakistanis and the military. More and more, people are growing disgruntled with this quasi-colonisation of their country. And yet, these are the very people whose direct and indirect taxes sustain a defence budget that is viewed increasingly as a burden that gives little in return.

And while both the president and his handpicked prime minister trumpet the achievements of their government, it should be clearly understood that most of these flow from the aftermath of 9/11. Had the attacks in New York and Washington never happened, the Pakistani economy would be on its knees today.

As I mentioned last week, the primary goal of a dictatorship is to stay in power. In this, it is no different from an elected government, except for the fact that the latter has a fixed tenure before it faces the electorate again for a mandate. An army ruler has no departure date.

In such a scenario, he has to keep his electorate happy, and to do so, he hands out ambassadorships, plots, civilian jobs and patronage to serving and retired officers. And hence three retired generals are sent to run the railways.

[antiobl]

Re: Govt asked to stabilise internal situation: Karamat opposes long involvement of army

Well the man has a point. Obviously as an ex-general he knows what he is talking about.

The problem with our intellectuals is that they never realized full potential of our resources and army is just one of our important resources.

Take Wazirastan for example. The issues in tribal area are the symptom of instability in Afghanistan. We can beat the crap out of these tribals but the trouble will not go away until Afghanistan becomes a stable country.

Pakistan's best defense is not to attack people in Miran-Shah. Our approach should be to send troops in Khost, Kandhar, and Jalalabad as part of the strong multi-national force such as NATO.

We have to attack the cacner in Afghanistan and cure that god-awful country from years of strife. Targetting minor tribals like Naik Mohammad will not resolve our issues. We should be going after Mullah Omer and his cronies.

My suggestions is that we move our 60,000 (out of total 70,000) troops out of tribal agencies by next year and deploy them in bordring Afghanistan along with NATO and Afghan soldiers.