Two years ago the Pakistani military took a difficult but essential decision to engage in a full-scale operation against the home-grown insurgency attacking innocent Pakistanis, and even children. The Army Public School massacre further proved how little they valued the life of innocent children, or their fellow countrymen. Throughout history, we have witnessed, that insurgency warfare is one of the most difficult types of warfare to engage in. What we can aim for however, is the dismantling and disabling of the threat to a degree where it becomes incapable of reviving and reorganizing. In these past two years, the Pakistani military has seen tremendous success in dismantling, curbing and curtailing the insurgency on their soil. They have also sacrificed many of their own. The issue of home-grown terrorism is an issue for us all to deal with. You have been aware of the attacks here and in France, Belgium, as we have seen the attacks on Pakistani soil. This plague of violent extremism is what we all have to dismantle and destroy, not just by force, but by eliminating their violent and intolerant narrative.
As President Obama has stated before, “Ideologies are not defeated with guns. They’re defeated by better ideas—a more attractive, more compelling vision.” This is the larger battle, and one that the entire international community has to face in the long term. We have to, collectively, provide people with the better narrative - one that would help those who are brainwashed by violent ideologies to choose education, progress and prosperity over destruction of entire societies.
Haroon Ahmad
DET – U.S. CENTCOM
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