Army top brass critical of critics

Reiterating their support for the democratic system in the country without any preference for any particular political party, top army commanders, however, took serious notice of what they called “some quarters” perceptual biases to deliberately run down the armed forces”, unanimously agreeing that this trend to create “divisions between important institutions” must stop. The top brass of the armed forces, meeting at the corps commanders meeting here on Thursday, also called for reassessing the military relationship with the US in view of the May 2 US raid in Abbottabad and the parliamentary resolution that followed.
“The participants (corps commanders) noted with regret that despite briefing the joint session of parliament and deferring the ultimate findings to the commission appointed by the government, some quarters, because of their perceptual biases, were trying to deliberately run down the armed forces and army in particular… this is an effort to drive a wedge between the army, different organs of the state and more seriously, the people of Pakistan. They agreed that all of us should take cognizance of this unfortunate trend and put an end to it,” an unusually detailed statement, issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) after the 139th Corps Commanders Conference, said in response to a nationwide debate on the role of the armed forces and the ISI.
Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, who chaired the conference at General Headquarters (GHQ), was quoted as saying that it was “critical to stand united as a nation… any effort to create divisions between important institutions of the country is not in our national interest”. The corps commanders were comprehensively briefed with special reference to internal security, terrorism, role of the media, the society, and all organs of the state to address the ongoing challenges that the country faced, and military-to-military relationship with the United States. The COAS also told the participants about his interaction with various foreign visitors, military as well as civilian, who met him after the Abbottabad incident.
“The army leadership reaffirmed its resolve to continue supporting the democratic system without any preference to any particular political party… it is also determined to lead the fight on terror in partnership with other law enforcement agencies and in line with the Constitution,” the ISPR said, suggesting that the army did not have any favourites in politics.
While reviewing the internal security situation, the commanders voiced their concern on the blowback of the Abbottabad incident, which had resulted in an upsurge in terrorism and consequent loss of innocent lives. “The military-to-military relationship with the United States has to be viewed within the larger ambit of bilateral relations between the two countries… It has to be assessed afresh in the backdrop of the May 2 incident as well as the dictates of the joint parliamentary resolution… the aspirations of the people of Pakistan also need to be taken into account in this regard,” the ISPR quoted General Kayani as saying.
The participants were also informed about the extent of intelligence cooperation with the US. “It has been decided to share intelligence strictly on the basis of reciprocity and complete transparency… it has also been clearly put across to US intelligence officials that no intelligence agency can be allowed to carry out independent operations on our soil,” he said.
The COAS told the corps commanders that the army had drastically cut down the strength of US troops stationed in Pakistan. “It needs to be clarified that the army had never accepted any training assistance from the US except for training on the newly-inducted weapons and some training assistance for the FC only. Even that has ceased now,” he said.
The ISPR said the news about a possible military operation in North Waziristan Agency (NWA) also came under discussion. “The army was following a well thought out campaign plan and is under no pressure to carry out operations at a particular time… future operations, as and when undertaken, will be with political consensus,” the ISPR quoted the COAS as saying. He, however, called upon the people of NWA to evict all foreigners from their soil and take charge of their land and destiny once again.
The COAS emphasised that it was wrong, in principle, to allow others to use our land to fight their battles. “This must not be allowed… army in NWA is committed to supporting the people in this effort… as far as drone attacks are concerned, army has repeatedly conveyed to all concerned that these are not acceptable under any circumstances… there is no room for ambiguity in this regard… the government is making necessary efforts in this direction,” he said.
Kayani said economic rather than military aid was more essential for Pakistan. “In line with the position taken in Pak-US strategic dialogue in March 2010, it is being recommended to the government that the US funds meant for military assistance to the army be diverted towards economic aid to Pakistan, which can be used for reducing the burden on the common man,” he told the corps commanders.
General Kayani also informed the participants that the often-quoted figure of $13 billion to $15 billion utilised by the army in the last decade was misplaced. “Under the head of Coalition Support Fund (CSF), against a total sum of $13 billion expected from the US, only $8.6 billion have been received by the government of Pakistan… the government has further made available only $1.4 billion to the army over the last ten years… a relatively smaller amount has gone to Navy and PAF (Pakistan Air Force) as well… the rest [of the] approximately $6 billion has been utilised by the government for budgetary support,” he said, dispelling the notion that the armed forces were consuming all foreign aid.
Paying tribute to the resilience and sacrifices of the people of Pakistan, the participants assured the nation that the “army will do its utmost and continue to sacrifice for the security and well being of the people”.