Reports are that Pakistan has decided to launch a full fledge operation in North Waziristan, which raises alarm bells as well as various questions:
(a) Is now the situation there not similar to the situation before May 2?
(b) Are the fears which had been hindering the leadership to opt for an all-out operation now removed?
(c) Is really Al-Qaeda leadership residing in NWA or there is possibility of Zawahiri and others being present in an Abbottabad-like urban areas?
(d) Why after three-year hiding in Iran, now the Al-Qaeda No 2, Saif al-Adil has reportedly resurfaced in North Waziristan?
(e) What would Pakistan do to Haji Gul Bahadur, Mullah Nazir and Haqqanis who had been in situational agreement with the Pakistan government? And finally
(f) has the government taken the nation into confidence in the post-Osama scenario where the security forces’ public image has been badly damaged?
On one hand it seems Pakistan is left with no option but to go all out against the terrorists in order to (a) restore the image because nation is demoralised; (b) to comply with the American pressure for ‘doing more’ because Osama’s alleged presence in Pakistan has earned bad name to us.
The US and allied forces’ withdrawal from Afghanistan under the announced schedule depends upon Pakistan’s performance in the decisive phase of war against terror, particularly its all out crucial operation in North Waziristan.
F Z KHAN
Islamabad
