Perhaps this article should have been written in two parts.
- Naive religiosity of Mehsuds in particular and Pakistanis in general
- Utter lack of civilian brains who work for Pak army.
We can blame Mehsuds for their primitive tribalistic naiveté. However the Acquired Islamists self-Destructive Syndrome (Islamists’ version of AIDS disease) has really infected large portions of urban Pakistanis too.
Once the Islamists’s AIDS virus infects an individual’s brain, he/she tends to become even more religious and thus open to the exploitation by the conspiracy theorists. This forum is clearly a place to find out who has been infected already.
This is the same as the South African top politician who insisted on sex with virgins in order to CURE the OTHeR AIDS.
The second point “Utter lack of civilian brains…” is even more important for the long term survival of Pak army and by extension Pakistan itself.
If you go back and study the great generals and conquerers, you will find one important thing in their arsenal. No that “thing” wasn’t the latest bomb, or gun, or airplane, not at all.
The most important thing in the arsenal of any WORLD class general (and army) are the honest to goodness “military historians”.
Military historians are civilians who love the military science, and the art of war. They don’t care about religiosity, or nationalistic fervor. These are cool minded ANALYST who may never have picked up the gun, but they have studied the past wars, and the past follies of the generals and their armies.
In modern terms, these civilians could be college professors, or pro-military think tank researchers.
Unfortunately, in Pakistan we have very few pro-military civilian intellectuals. No need to blame army for the dearth of these intellectuals. Because generals do not produce civilian intellectuals, rather CIVILIANS produce these professors and researchers.
Have we had these pro-military historians and researchers operating in the upper echelons of policy matters, we would have avoided the debacles of Kashmir, or the follies of E. Bengal, or the stupidities of Tribal area/ Awghanistan.
It is time that Pakistani civilians take charge by working WITH the army (instead of criticizing them) to avoid the next folly, and minimize the affects of the current trials and tribulations.
The civilians thinkers with ZERO motivation from religion, and only purpose for saving our beautiful country.