A doctrine is “what we believe about the best way to do things.” The Pakistan army must have concluded through its analysis and war gaming the best way to fight the war on terror within its own borders. US military aid must have figured out as a strong component in formulating the military doctrine to fight this war. Stoppage of aid means that our belief in the continuous US support in fighting this war was wrong. If this be the case so is the military doctrine based on such belief. Without US military aid, resource constrained and short on cash the altered military doctrine will certainly not meet the political and military objectives set forth by the Pakistani government and the army.
One principle of war taught and practiced by armies all over the world is, “cut off any routes through which outside help can reach your enemy.” With one stroke the US has come to the aid of militants and ensured that Pakistan army that directly confronts them is devoid of outside help at this most critical juncture of this war. Maybe it was for such a day that war was defined as a “failure of policy”. What else would you call this war when a super power stops the military aid of a country in forefront of fighting the global war on terror?
LT COL (Retd) MUHAMMAD ALI EHSAN
Karachi
