Act of War by Lt General Tariq Khan

[T-Rex]

20 NOVAct of War

• Written by Lt. Gen (R) Tariq Khan
• Categorised Analysis

We are honored to post a guest article from Lt. General Tariq Khan.

What I am going to write here is neither politically correct nor diplomatically proper. Also, that whatever views I am going to express are mine and must not be associated with the institution I belong to or the country that I am a national of. Besides, what I write should not be lumped with my attitude when I was in service since the environment I am going to address is a new phenomenon that did not exist then.

Baluchistan is in the throes of terrorism. This terrorism is not indigenous nor a product of grievances. It is an outcome of an Achakzai and Rasik collaboration at the behest of RAW. Its nature and character is to attack soft targets and cause mass murder. Its purpose is to destabilize the region with a view to scuttle CPEC. The manner of activity is likely to soon expand to Gilgit-Baltistan with the same objective. In the former case the projection of conflict is based on an alleged but utterly false Baluchistan Separatist Movement and evolves around accusations of human rights against the Government. In the latter it will be inspired by artficially raising sectarian strife. The mayhem is likely to grow in magnitude with an international appeal to intervene through the United Nations. While this blatant act of terrorism is applied against Pakistan, India will continue to engage Pakistan all along the Line of Control play-acting that it is undertaking strikes against terrorist camps, routes and launch pads. In the meanwhile, Afghanistan will continue to project hostility and demand border concessions, they will not agree to demarcation nor to sealing the border but will continue to accuse Pakistan of cross border terrorism. They will allow TTP to live in safe havens in Kunar and under the Coalition’s watch facilitate, fund and resource violence against Pakistan.

The world will buy these stories, Pakistan will be accused of aiding and abetting the violence in Kashmir of scuttling the peace process in Afghanistan, of gross human rights violations in Baluchistan, sectarian violence against the Shia community and harboring non state actors against everyone in the neighborhood. A nuclear Pakistan becoming a failed State labelled as the most dangerous country in the world.

Pakistan has no narrative, presents no case and does nothing at any level to clarify its position. Any accusations against India are taken as business as usual. That a colonel, Kulbushan was captured as a unique precedence holds no water for the world. We have no diplomatic recourse, no political body to turn to, no agreements or treaties that are binding and no bi-lateral way forward. What should Pakistan do, who can it complain to and where should it go?

With no one in the world willing to hear us out, no one willing to validate our narrative or reject it through an international fact finding mission, with callous indifference to our situation and criminal silence as we are subjected to such blatant and covert terrorism on a daily basis the bias and prejudice against Pakistan is conspicuous. It appears that India is accumulating brownie points every time it attacks a post or fires across the border. Pakistan is expected to take all this in, not complain or inconvenience the world by its ‘meaningless’ accusations.

Well then what are Pakistan’s responses if it is not to succumb to terrorism, disruption, instability and international indifference? They are limited. It could define an ‘Act of War’ and then respond to such an act against itself through overt conventional measures by undertaking military strikes likely to escalate to war and lead to a probable nuclear exchange. Alternatively it can undertake covert operations and pay the Indians back in the same coin. In my opinion, there is no guaranteed defense against terrorist activity except equitable terror. State sponsored terrorism must lead to a response where the State initiating such violence is effectively engaged in the same manner. My recommendations:

1. Any terrorist activity or physical hostility from Afghanistan would be treated as an Act of War. The response would be a fire raid on Kabul and Bagram through missile attacks. Deploy and ready launchers for such a strike
2. Long range strikes against Fazalullah group in Kunar to commence till he is handed over.
3. For every Indian/RAW inspired terrorist act, at least three similar acts on a greater scale to be undertaken in the Indian main land.
4. Any cross border firing should lead to offensive concentration of Strike Formations with a view to severing the Madhupur-Jammu Road before the Indians can even mobilise.

Such a posture will scare many and even subject us to sanctions but enough is enough. Every two bit country cannot just come and kick us around. We have nothing to lose, its another word for freedom. We are free to do what ever we need to do for our survival. Besides there us no other alternative.


Lt. Gen (R) Tariq Khan

Lieutenant General (R) Tariq Khan, an erudite general from Pakistan's Armored Corps and a decorated War Veteran, recently spoke on critical issues related to Terrorism & Insurgencies. Gen Tariq Khan during the Battle of Bajaur, transformed and re-shaped Frontier Corps into a relentless fighting force and raised FC's own special forces popularly known as SOG. Commanded and led major operations in FATA from the frontline, his model on counter-insurgency is still applied to this day.

@Horus @Oscar @Jango @Arsalan @nair @MilSpec @AUz @Areesh

This is exactly how it is. Pakistani leaders should stop thinking what the US or the world would say because neither the US nor the world is unbiased as far as india and Pakistan are concerned. It's high time that Pakistani leaders realised the folly of convincing uncle sam of Pakistan's peaceful intentions. The US or the west can never be convinced by Pakistan because they have an ill motive.

 

[mr.robot]

Apologize for my long reply!!!


General's analysis and suggested way of action is symptomatic of the lethargic state we are in led by a selfish, self-serving, and family ltd government. Military cannot take unilateral actions without support of the political government, and that government, unfortunately running affairs to serve the interests of political dynasty, Sharif Family. Sharif Govt is hurting federalism badly as all members are from one province which has created a bad taste in the mouths of rest of the Pakistanis. This is one big issue that should be addressed.


Now, on another point, note the report filed by Eric Dellman of WSJ on Feb 25, 2016, that almost 5 billion US dollars were remitted from Pakistan to India just in last year, $4.79 billion the previous year and $4.67 year before that. Now India is supposedly our sworn enemy so how the hell this Gove not only totally oblivious of that but no other in Pakistan took notice of that? SBP and intelligence organization? This is base treachery!


Now when NS Govt abetting India by covering up Kulbhoshan Yadav spy scandal, what else they had not been doing in the last three years.

In that situation when this political Govt is serving the interests of an enemy country how can we fire missile on TPP hideouts and do tit for tat for RAW sponsored terrorist’s acts? The house is in complete disorder, MQM A raising its head again, and G for Zardari inching to return to resume his role of agent provocateur in Sind and to make rangers operation to a full standstill. Mind you, it is already grinding to an end.


Army already missed the opportunity to fire this Govt when it expanded its operation in Karachi to include corruption, as portrayal was that corruption money was finding its use in acts of terrorism, there was a momentum to nab corrupts but RH was too focused on Op ZA to fully understand how important it is to have a competent and honest civil machinery to back it up.


I also always have taken it with a pinch of salt the claims of breaking the back of terrorists but though frequency of small acts has lowered but bigger and impactful acts are occurring every few months and we could do nothing but to cry over the dead bodies of our innocents.


If action is to be taken it has to be swift and spontaneous and without making stupid claims that we are ready for all aggressions etc. As we say a judge's order speaks, so army's gun should speak not the press releases.


Salah Uddin once said if my enemy is in front of me I can take them, but if my enemy is behind from within, my sword will only shake in its sheath but not be bared.

One Picture Worth Ten Thousand Words.

 

[krash]

The General was quick to emotions, in my limited opinion.

If there was ever a time for Pakistan to play restraint then it is now. As much as I hate to jump on the bandwagon of hyper-optimism, Pakistan today does stand at the cusp of a major economic turn around. An opportunity which, if nurtured even a little bit, has the capacity of paying dividends even after filling the coffers of the corrupt.

We have a habit of shooting our selves in the foot, we can't afford it any more. We must think of the Pakistan that is to be for the generations beyond the next two, not the Pakistan that we will enjoy for ourselves; planting seeds of trees whose shadows we will not enjoy, and what not. Going out in a radioactive puff of glory sounds good enough for me but is that really the aim we have for Pakistan itself? While no one can doubt a Pakistanis resolve to die for his/her country we must first insure its survival beyond ourselves. For that, especially given India's recent relative economic rise, there is one way and one way alone; economic growth.

Just like us, most developing nations are perpetually stuck in the low-level equilibrium trap, which is easy to understand and, in our situation (explained below), near impossible to get out of; in an economy facing low level per capita income the savings dry up leading to low levels of investment which then circles back to low level per capita income completing a perpetual cyclical trap. This also perpetuates a parallel trap where low levels of per capita income foster lower levels of social etiquette i.e. higher levels of corruption, lower integrity of state institutions, lower levels of education, higher levels of political instability, etc. which then also circles back to lower levels of economic growth and hence per capita income, burying the economy deeper in the first trap. There are two escapes from it, both equally awkward.

1) Massive economic reforms coupled strongly with massive social reforms; essentially an honest, collective, conscious realisation of the greater collective good resulting in a massive collective economic and social effort, e.g. reduction in corruption, increase in education, non-return investments by the top 1%, across the board apolitical measures by the ruling elite, a selfless common populace, etc. We as a nation are no way near sincere or honest enough towards our country for this to happen. We are more interested in self preservation (which ironically is left moot without the preservation of the state), cronyism, nepotism, provincialism, ethnic identification, religious division, sectarian division, lust for power, greed and domination over our fellow Pakistani to name a few. In short, any collective consciousness that Mr. Jinnah garnered in us has long been spent along with his ideology.

2) Massive direct foreign investment. This one is just as tricky as (1). For this to happen a country usually needs to offer (a) significant direct monitory benefit for the investor, case in point; India. Lesser probability of this happening is with (b) significant mutual economic benefit for the investor. The least probability is with (c) significantly strong diplomatic ties with the investor, case in point; Israel. Pakistan has little to offer with regards to (a) which is expounded by the low levels of political instability mentioned above. However, after an incubation period of decades, Pakistan's luckiest draw of recognising the PRC has finally come to hatch; an exponentially rising strong ally is in need of our oft touted strategic location, (b) + (c). Enter CPEC. Developing nations can only dream of finding themselves in such a situation. CPEC brings massive direct investment which in turn should lead to obvious economic growth, which then will lead to higher levels of per capita income, which then will effectively break both the cyclical traps increasing the above mentioned collective social etiquette and direct monitory benefit for other investors which will then bring even more foreign investment. This stronger economy itself will also bring a much stronger voice internationally. But the kicker will be the strong symbiotic economic relationship with China making Pakistan indispensable to the next "super power". And then as long as China grows so will our diplomatic clout and voice in global politics. No one will not listen to us then.

What needs to be realised is that CPEC will start by paying in small increments, which will ultimately coalesce over a period of decades. We need to keep our heads low, work on the project and bide our time, instead of acting childishly and shooting ourselves in the face. The insurgency in Balochistan is withering and GB will not go the way of sectarian violence, it's not as if India hasn't been trying that for decades. We have fought against far worse levels of terrorism for a decade now, we can surely fight another two to see Pakistan prosper for the next hundred. We are the most stubborn nation in the world after all.

@WAJsal @Zibago @Arsalan

 

[PaklovesTurkiye]

I respect the emotions of Mr. Khan......But he's sounding like we are about to go for suicide and no other option left for us...Which is not reality...Hint : Russia China Pakistan are holding trilateral meeting regarding Afghanistan.

How about if we quietly grow our economy and don't let others to divert our attention from economy development...

We will protect our interests but not in suicidal way...

The purpose of our enemy is to make us desperate...and if I go by Mr. Khan's article, looks like enemy is succeeding...

Be calm and handle matters professionally. Indians don't give a damn about LOC firing, so why should we count it? Its just new normal on LOC now and we don't need to give too much important to LOC firing....I m not saying we shouldn't be ready for any eventuality...but...if we act like in a way Mr. Khan is proposing, enemy will consider it her victory...

We have CPEC...think about how to leverage it to its full potential...We are strong nation...Only weak chooses suicidal way...

Correct your diplomacy and hold with firmness your old traditional allies...Also find new friends in the world...

 

[Mitro]

War is the only solution when both are stubborn just one nation so at least other can live in peace

 

[niaz]

I am at a loss for words. If generals of the 3-star rank harbour such immature and half-baked ideas, heaven knows how they will behave under pressure during the war situation. Let us objective analyse what Gen Sahib is saying:

“Baluchistan is in the throes of terrorism. This terrorism is not indigenous nor a product of grievances. It is an outcome of an Achakzai and Rasik collaboration at the behest of RAW. Its nature and character is to attack soft targets and cause mass murder. Its purpose is to destabilize the region with a view to scuttle CPEC.

The manner of activity is likely to soon expand to Gilgit-Baltistan with the same objective. In the former case the projection of conflict is based on an alleged but utterly false Baluchistan Separatist Movement and evolves around accusations of human rights against the Government. In the latter it will be inspired by artificially raising sectarian strife”.


For the benefit of those who may have forgotten, let me remind all that Baluchistan separatist movement is indigenous and has been going on since the birth of Pakistan.

- Ahmad Yar Khan of Kalat declared independence and Pak Army had to be called in to annex Kalat and that was back in March 1948.

- Nauroze Khan Zehri started a guerrilla war in 1958 against the formation of one unit.

- Sher Mohammed Marri led another rebellion in the 1960’s

- Sher Baksh Marri instigated another armed insurrection in 1973 against ZA Bhutto regime.

- Current insurgency has been going on since 2004.

As a Lt General, I am sure Gen Sahib must have been taught history of Pakistan Army. On what basis can he declare that it is an outcome of Achakzai and Rasik collaboration at the behest of RAW? Was it Raw that asked Ahmad Yar to declare independence in 1947?

Baluch insurgency has been supported by Soviet Union, Afghanistan & India at various times. Even Iraq was at one time helping Baluch rebels because in 1973, arms were found in the Iraq Embassy in Pakistan ostensibly meant for Baluch insurgents.

Quote

On the midnight of 9 February 1973, Akbar Khan Bugti told Pakistani authorities about weapons shipment smuggled from the Soviet Union with Iraqi assistance. He reported that the weapons were being kept in the Iraqi embassy in Islamabad. On 10 February 1973, the Pakistani authorities began to prepare a quick military operation. After limited hours of planning, a special military operation was led by Special Service Group accompanied by thePakistan Paramilitary Rangers to storm the Iraqi embassy. Following this incident, authorities found 300 Soviet submachine guns with 50,000 rounds of ammunitions and large amount of money that was to be distributed amongst Baluchi separatist groups.

Unquote

With doubt Baluch insurgents have had foreign help but the separatist movement and the terrorists are all Pakistani Baluchis. General is severely mistaken here.

On the Gilgit Baltistan front, it is a historical fact that no one from Pakistan or Pakistan Army had any hand in the liberation of Gilgit & Baltistan region from the Dogra yoke. It was a wholly indigenous effort and the Glgitis invited Pak Army to come and take over after the area had been cleared. Unfortunately the region is largely Shia or Ismaili and this does not suit the Deobandi Taliban.

I had not heard of any sectarian strife in the area until the 1980’s. With the Afghan conflict and the bigot Zia’s support, sectarian Wahhabi / Deobandi maslak got a great boost. Construction of the Karakoram highway made it easy for the sectarian groups from outside to enter the Northern areas. In 1988, after a false rumour of an alleged Sunni massacre by the Shias, thousands of armed Wahhabi jihadists stormed the region and killed nearly 400 Shias. In 2012, Taliban targeted a number of busses carrying Balti Shia travellers on the two routes that connect Gilgit Baltistan with Islamabad.

This was the time when action against Taliban was not yet started and Baitullah Mahsood, beloved of JI Leader Munawwar Hassan was commander of TTP. It was not RAW that formed SSP & LeJ but our friend Saudi Arabia in response to the rise of Khomeini in Iran. Terrorist groups still take lead from the Wahhabi Saudis.

General Sahib also declares:
“With no one in the world willing to hear us out, no one willing to validate our narrative or reject it through an international fact finding mission, with callous indifference to our situation and criminal silence as we are subjected to such blatant and covert terrorism on a daily basis the bias and prejudice against Pakistan is conspicuous. It appears that India is accumulating brownie points every time it attacks a post or fires across the border. Pakistan is expected to take all this in, not complain or inconvenience the world by its ‘meaningless’ accusations."

The reason why no one in the world listens to us because we are not taking action against internationally proscribed organizations and allow the terrorist like Masood Azhar & SSP to work freely by the simply changing the name. Discussions related to this topic between Sartaj Aziz, Tariq Fatami & the ISI was reason of the whole Cyril Almeida episode. Undoubtedly India & RAW are exploiting the situation but fault lines lies within Pakistan.

Finally, I would have never expected such irrational remedial actions coming from a 3 star general as suggested by Gen Tariq. For example

:” Any terrorist activity or physical hostility from Afghanistan would be treated as an Act of War. The response would be a fire raid on Kabul and Bagram through missile attacks. Deploy and ready launchers for such a strike

 Long range strikes against Fazalullah group in Kunar to commence till he is handed over.

 For every Indian/RAW inspired terrorist act, at least three similar acts on a greater scale to be undertaken in the Indian main land.

 Any cross border firing should lead to offensive concentration of Strike Formations with a view to severing the Madhupur-Jammu Road before the Indians can even mobilise.”

Is the guy serious? Is Pakistan a super power that we can dictate terms to the neighbouring countries?

There was a bomb explosion today in a Kabul mosque killing 30; suppose NATO aircrafts based in Afghanistan bomb a town in Pakistan in retaliation? Suppose India starts attacking Pakistan in response?

What Gen Tariq is proposing would surely result in a full scale war with India & Afghanistan. Pakistan is certainly not strong enough to fight on two fronts and such a war would result in probable destruction of Pakistan.

Zia’ legacy is still alive in the armed service and there must be many Taliban / Daesh supporters in uniform. . I would say that Gen Tariq is working for Taliban & ISIS. TTP/ISS have already killed about 60,000 Pakistanis, what do they care if another million die, extremists are hoping that from the ashes, extremist Sunni forces would be able to form a dark age Mullah Omer's Afghanistan type Islamic Caliphate.

I don’t wish to sound pessimistic , but IMHO Pakistan should avoid any serious conflict with India until Pakistan has built up sufficient conventional strength as well as a strong economic base

 

[Commander Keen]

0_o this dude's a 3 star general ??? no wonder pakistan foreign policy is dumber than a walnut dipped in whiskey.

what kind of education do officers get in pakistan ???

 

[Farah Sohail]

I somehow have doubts that this article is written by Gen Tariq Khan... Earlier also, some posts were written in his name, only to be known later, tht it was shared by a whatsapp group, in his name and it was not him actually....

@Zarvan whats the source of this article?

 

[khanasifm]

Looks like fake posting and article aasociat ed d with genral

I somehow have doubts that this article is written by Gen Tariq Khan... Earlier also, some posts were written in his name, only to be known later, tht it was shared by a whatsapp group, in his name and it was not him actually....

@Zarvan whats the source of this article?

Agree

 

[Tamilnadu]

or the simplest way to achive peace is not to poske nose in Kashmir and not to allow armed groups to operate from its soil,its the simplest,cheapest and the most sensible thing to do.

 

[__Jihadi__]

Apologize for my long reply!!!


General's analysis and suggested way of action is symptomatic of the lethargic state we are in led by a selfish, self-serving, and family ltd government. Military cannot take unilateral actions without support of the political government, and that government, unfortunately running affairs to serve the interests of political dynasty, Sharif Family. Sharif Govt is hurting federalism badly as all members are from one province which has created a bad taste in the mouths of rest of the Pakistanis. This is one big issue that should be addressed.


Now, on another point, note the report filed by Eric Dellman of WSJ on Feb 25, 2016, that almost 5 billion US dollars were remitted from Pakistan to India just in last year, $4.79 billion the previous year and $4.67 year before that. Now India is supposedly our sworn enemy so how the hell this Gove not only totally oblivious of that but no other in Pakistan took notice of that? SBP and intelligence organization? This is base treachery!


Now when NS Govt abetting India by covering up Kulbhoshan Yadav spy scandal, what else they had not been doing in the last three years.

In that situation when this political Govt is serving the interests of an enemy country how can we fire missile on TPP hideouts and do tit for tat for RAW sponsored terrorist’s acts? The house is in complete disorder, MQM A raising its head again, and G for Zardari inching to return to resume his role of agent provocateur in Sind and to make rangers operation to a full standstill. Mind you, it is already grinding to an end.


Army already missed the opportunity to fire this Govt when it expanded its operation in Karachi to include corruption, as portrayal was that corruption money was finding its use in acts of terrorism, there was a momentum to nab corrupts but RH was too focused on Op ZA to fully understand how important it is to have a competent and honest civil machinery to back it up.


I also always have taken it with a pinch of salt the claims of breaking the back of terrorists but though frequency of small acts has lowered but bigger and impactful acts are occurring every few months and we could do nothing but to cry over the dead bodies of our innocents.


If action is to be taken it has to be swift and spontaneous and without making stupid claims that we are ready for all aggressions etc. As we say a judge's order speaks, so army's gun should speak not the press releases.


Salah Uddin once said if my enemy is in front of me I can take them, but if my enemy is behind from within, my sword will only shake in its sheath but not be bared.

You have wrote a great reply but all of this now depends on the next army chief....
BECAUSE THIS IS A DEMOCRACY WHICH NEEDS A STICK OF ARMY TO KEEP THE RIGHT TRACK. and it seems like all politicians of Pakistan are united against Pakistan and we dead people will not come out to stop them but who does (IK) we criticize him.

 

[M@rKhor]

or the simplest way to achive peace is not to poske nose in Kashmir and not to allow armed groups to operate from its soil,its the simplest,cheapest and the most sensible thing to do.

Why not giving the people of Kashmir right of self determination, the simplest,cheapest and the most sensible thing to do?

 

[FlyingAce]

Covert Options are always on the table, & if India does it Covert means, then We should do it again, It was Mush who stopped the funding to Khalistan Movement & after then when ops were resumed it took us 4 yrs to gain what we lost, Yet i agree with LT Gen. Tariq, he has been very vocal when he was in Service & that's one of the reasons he was not made the Chief, yet again If we have a PM like NS & his partners like Achakzai then people like are right in saying NS is a National Security Risk, Whom so ever thinks Afghan Govt wants peace, well they don't, they are playing in the hands of their masters...
Day after APS Attack when Chief & DG ISI Flew to Kabul & demanded Action against Fazlullah, We should have kept other options like Initiating ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Recon) of the specific target & launched a Ground Op comprising of our assets on the ground & SSG lads & or Airstrikes to achieve our objective yet atleast Mil command knew Afghans would Double Cross & our Civil Govt was any Numb & trying to protect their assets like Achakzai...
Time has come we would need to make bold decisions, Threat Perception are changing day by day & Some generals in command have a view that there is still Some Room for a Conventional War with India without Using of Nuclear Weapons...

 

[Zarvan]

I somehow have doubts that this article is written by Gen Tariq Khan... Earlier also, some posts were written in his name, only to be known later, tht it was shared by a whatsapp group, in his name and it was not him actually....

@Zarvan whats the source of this article?

I shared the website and that website is the source

 

[Tamilnadu]

Why not giving the people of Kashmir right of self determination, the simplest,cheapest and the most sensible thing to do?

they dont need any help for self determination they can deside if they want to stay or to leave,they can always leave if they want ,we will open our gates and am sure Pakistan will open its heart.