Sir: What the Afghan security forces are capable of needs to be viewed in the post-troop withdrawal scenario. It is only fair to lionise the accomplishments of new trainees who have had very little to their credit so far, but drawing skewed parallels is hardly fair. It is great that the Afghan forces could manage to control the Taliban onslaught, but in the presence of the US/allied security forces, the audacity of the militants in attacking multiple locations simultaneously speaks of colossal collective failure, despite the fact that the Taliban were supposed to have lost their potency for large attacks. How is this fact explained?
No matter how loud we cry for the deteriorating security situation in Pakistan, we still are nowhere near the absolute lawlessness that prevails in Afghanistan. In addition, nothing could make us trade our security forces for the newly trained Afghans. The Pakistan security apparatus, both military and civil, have been accused of failures much too often, but their success in the war on terror despite scarcity of resources and lack of political assistance is commendable. Their commitment and resolve makes us trust them despite their weaknesses and limitations.
As far as the varied accounts of people are concerned, surely one does not believe everything one is told, being aware of the enhanced story making skills of our folks. It is hard to choose one version or the other, for one account of the Osama bin Laden saga informed us that there was no such person living in Abbottabad and that it was nothing but a fancy fabrication.
One needs to believe that it is not only the responsibility of our undernourished security forces; we have to play an equal role in this too. How honest we are and how sincere towards improving our state needs to be pondered upon.
DR NIDA SHAMI
Windsor, Ontario,
Canada