The current operation in FATA will Inshallah bring Pakistan a victory. But at best it will be a tactical victory.
This is the easiest part of the operation. Much tougher will be the operation to clear out militant sleeper cells from urban Pakistan. If this is done successfully, it shall be another tactical success.
If these two tactical successes have to be converted into a strategic success, there is no way this can be achieved without good governance following immediately in the wake of these tactical successes.
Good governance is just NOT possible unless it is first recognized that corruption is the foundational evil which erodes the very roots of the possibility of good governance.
And this is not possible when those who are governing are driven entirely by the motive of seeking profit from their high offices.
The conquest of the militant is not possible without bringing about such justice in the land so that the common man gets vested in the state.
Achieving this is a far cry from where we now stand.
But mustering at least that little bit of honesty to pinpoint the real problem is not such a far cry, and can be done in just a moment of candid reflection.
So, can we at least start the process of national overhaul by first confessing the truth to ourselves, and then stating it to others, that unless the problem of corruption in high places is first addressed, there is no possibility of a solution in sight?
Can we admit this even if we are corrupt ourselves, and have a plethora of excuses to justify our corruption?
If this is not possible, the current operations in FATA are nothing more than useless bloodshed, which will only lead to more bloodshed.
This realization cannot come to the Sharifs and the Zardaris, because they are the ultimate beneficiaries of the system of “democracy” which they have milked so and bastardized.
This realization cannot even come to our generals, who are so far removed from those whom they command, that but for having separate graveyards, they have little in common with those who die at their orders while the generals themselves have generally not flinched at extending their claws beyond their due.
Yet the generals are the only species in this sad circus who can be distinguished from the other wielders of power in our country, because in their rarefied ranks there are still a few survivors who have yet to soil their hands by partaking in the forbidden feast which has left the country hollow.
Can this little cadre of patriots finally understand that the threat this country faces is not so much from across the borders, but that it is from within?
And realizing this, can they for once give back to their country just an iota of what the country has squandered on them, not by taking over, but by using their power to cleanse it of its bloodsuckers in high positions, not excluding a goodly number among their own ranks? Without good governance, this country will not survive.
The power of the army will also evaporate with time, and that time is not too far.
Can anyone say how long our country can survive without its army? Let every reader, whatever he may think about its army, honestly answer this question. To put it bluntly, if the army was not there, how long would it take for the militants to break into every gated community, and loot, burn, and rape what these hallowed precincts hold?
So before this army goes the way of every other institution of our land, should we not ask of it for once to use its heft for our sakes, without trying to rule us? Can it rid us of the Sharifs and Zardaris, and Fazal ur Rehmans, and Asfandyar Walis, clean this accursed stable, and ensure above- board elections, while ensuring that corruption in high places [including their own] shall henceforth be considered a national security imperative?
But then there is the constitution–the supreme law of the land, which has already been bastardized by the Zardari-Sharif combine. It is their two parties who put together the Election Commission. This will always be manipulated by them to rig the elections. Only interim governments can check such rigging, but because the constitution ensures that even these interim governments are put in place by them, any chance of clean elections stands nullified. So our democracy locks us into a system which does not allow us to get rid of our “leaders”.
So where lies the chance of relief coming to us, or of good governance?
If the army cannot see this and act, for once, in the national interest, let it disband itself. Perhaps the militants will be better for us.