General Raheel to be commander in chief of 34 Muslim state alliance after Retirement?

[Serpentine]

He would seem to me to be both the best and most logical choice, given the stated mission of the Islamic Military Alliance.

Let's call it what it is: Sunni Military Alliance, which exists only on paper. It's a sectarian-based alliance, half of members can barely even feed their population and are just bought by Saudi money to have their names on the list.

It will be as useful and effective as OIC and Arab league.

 

[Irfan Baloch]

The news is probably a joke.....don't take it seriously, KSA already self appointed itself as the leader of the coalition. Above all who expect something in reality with this so called coalition just exists on papers.

many reasons he cant be the commander

he is not an Arab
he has no royal linage
he doesn't speak Arabic
he has no direct or indirect experience of the middle east
he has no experience in heading multiple armies
he has no experience of the middle east (apart from as a guest in military exercise)
he has expressed no such desire in the past
he refused to participate in previous Arab campaigns in Yemen

It will be as useful and effective as OIC and Arab league.

trust me OIC and (oh I see .. ,,,"nothing") or Arab league (dead and mutated into GCC) have / had more uses than this fictitious organisation that exists no more than some token exercises and parades.
I have no issue with its Sunni prefix.. its very good and healthy for competition.. since there is already one rival organisation under the name of Daesh.. consisting of all the rapists and cannibals from the Muslim world. and then there is an apologetic and reactive organisation (no name yet) of Syria, Iraq, Iran and Hezbullah that is making its own noise (to stay relevant).

in reality there are only 2 opponents.

Daesh and NON-Daesh.
the day KSA and Iran call off their mutual hostilities against each other and work together to eradicate this daesh cancer .. it will be a day of peace and stability. both countries need each other to exist and stay strong because without anyone of them standing.. Daesh will simply make home in the open wound and spread further.

 

[Maarkhoor]

he is not an Arab
he has no royal linage
he doesn't speak Arabic

These one enough to disqualify him for being commander of any Arab force.
My Taya Abu served in KSA for two years as Major under Zia's regime, he told me we can carry guns during duty hours but without bullets and even at night Arab guards take all arms from us even they don't have any ammunition. Their mission suspended in a dramatic and sad incident when a Pakistani soldier by mistake carry back a tank shell thinking it was spent but at baracks during cleaning this shell blasted and kill 6 soldiers Saudis panicked why Pakistani storing ammo in barracks and they sent back all the soldiers including my uncle requesting Zia to send new troops. Fearing they may trying to coup or something similar against the royals.

 

[Irfan Baloch]

These one enough to disqualify him for being commander of any Arab force.
My Taya Abu served in KSA for two years as Major under Zia's regime, he told me we can carry guns during duty hours but without bullets and even at night Arab guards take all arms from us even they don't have any ammunition. Their mission suspended in a dramatic and sad incident when a Pakistani soldier by mistake carry back a tank shell thinking it was spent but at baracks during cleaning this shell blasted and kill 6 soldiers Saudis panicked why Pakistani storing ammo in bricks and they sent back all the soldiers including my uncle requesting Zia to send new troops. Fearing they may trying to coup or something similar against they royals.

seems like Saudis were very good at practising general code of practice and SOPs.. no one should carry arms after training unless if that person is on guard duty. our arms and unspent ammo is collected and stored away safely after the training and exercises.
the unspent shell incident is tragic and shows extreme carelessness on the part of training in-charge , officers and NCO's that allowed the solider to take dormant round back into the barracks.

 

[Serpentine]

consisting of all the rapists and cannibals from the Muslim world. and then there is an apologetic and reactive organisation (no name yet) of Syria, Iraq, Iran and Hezbullah that is making its own noise (to stay relevant).

Considering the fact that the names you mentioned (Syria, Iraq, Iran, Hezbollah) are responsible for more than 80% of ISIS and AQ casualties and are the only Middle Eastern forces who are actually fighting ISIS (unlike Daesh's ideological father, KSA and its clients), I think you are wrong about trying to 'stay relevant'. Exact opposite, it's the ridiculous 34 nation coalition led by Saudis that is making too much noise and no action, only to stay relevant. We are doing our job and don't make a fuss about it, neither do we care about this 34 nation 'alliance' brought together by money.

 

[Maarkhoor]

seems like Saudis were very good at practising general code of practice and SOPs.. no one should carry arms after training unless if that person is on guard duty. our arms and unspent ammo is collected and stored away safely after the training and exercises.
the unspent shell incident is tragic and shows extreme carelessness on the part of training in-charge , officers and NCO's that allowed the solider to take dormant round back into the barracks.

yeah thats true but their panicking over this incident for fearing coup by few soldiers telling us how much they trust on us...That unspent shell hold another story after the investigation officers found that Saudi tank crew was given few shells to fire at training target but in a hot weather they fire few rounds and hide unspent shells in desert in order to leave the area soon and later Pakistan soldier picked up the shell thinking it was spent and would make a good flower pot.

 

[Kambojaric]

False news most probably. As others have mentioned hes not an Arab and he has not shown any inclination of joining the Saudi war effort in Yemen. That pretty much discounts him straight away I would say.

That's good, He should make record of imposing martial law in 34 countries. All of them have useless governments.

Comment of the day

 

[Desertfalcon]

Let's call it what it is: Sunni Military Alliance, which exists only on paper. It's a sectarian-based alliance, half of members can barely even feed their population and are just bought by Saudi money to have their names on the list.

It will be as useful and effective as OIC and Arab league.

I don't know what it will become, but I do know that according to their own stated objectives, their primary targets are almost entirely Sunni as well, so why point out that the countries belonging to it are Sunni?

 

[Hyde]

I think it could be attempt to convince Pakistan to join this coalition of 34 countries. General Raheel has immense experience of fighting War on Terror and they might be thinking to hire his service in this regard. He is probably the most popular general in the world right now if not the Americans and everybody knows him well, so his name carries a lot of weight and inspiration for others

PS: I have had interaction with African guys about politics in Pakistan and they knew few personalities including General Raheel from Pakistan. They would have never guessed the name of Indian generals (I actually don't remember current COAS from India) but most Indians would know General Raheel due to his vital role in WoT. I think he is also very popular among Arabs so if this news is true, it holds more of inspirational power than practical choice

I am sure Arab generals would have more experience of tackling with their home grown terrorists and inviting General Raheel on board only means they either want Pakistan to jump in, hire his skilful services as an advisor or they are too incompetent to build consensus among each other and importing a general from abroad to fight their war

 

[asad71]

Being a totally professional soldier, I doubt the General will accept such a call. A poster above has called such a speculated alliance "comical". Even if it takes shape it will not be something like NATO. And before a military alliance, there needs to be political agreement. Nope, the General should not accept such bizarre offers.

 

[Irfan Baloch]

Considering the fact that the names you mentioned (Syria, Iraq, Iran, Hezbollah) are responsible for more than 80% of ISIS and AQ casualties and are the only Middle Eastern forces who are actually fighting ISIS (unlike Daesh's ideological father, KSA and its clients), I think you are wrong about trying to 'stay relevant'. Exact opposite, it's the ridiculous 34 nation coalition led by Saudis that is making too much noise and no action, only to stay relevant. We are doing our job and don't make a fuss about it, neither do we care about this 34 nation 'alliance' brought together by money.

my comment was off the cuff. your war record against ISIS might be good but on the information front you fail to impress the world and it should matter as well as the actual war these days.
coming back to story. if there is even a slight chance of truth in the claim about Raheel Sherif being bribed into a ceremonial position (while he is till a chief) then it would only mean to entice Pakistan to commit front-line troops (read fodder) against Yemen and Syria.

 

[PakShaheen79]

Even if the news is true ... there are dozens of questions regarding this military alliance.

ANALYSIS: Gen Raheel and Saudi Led Islamic Military Alliance

​

By Shahzad Masood Roomi
Pakistan media is buzzed with the news that Gen. Raheel Shareef, COAS Pakistan Army, has been asked by the Saudi led 34 countries alliance to become its commander in-chief after his retirement which is due November later this year. Source of information according to Daily The News International is "US military and political sources."
The 34-country alliance was formed by the Saudi Arabia in December 2015. Pakistan was included in the member states but ironically at that time both civilian and military leadership showed its estrangement over Pakistan's inclusion in the alliance without proper negotiation or agreement. The alliance's objective was to crush transnational terrorism within the member states using a more military oriented approach. The alliance was announced by Saudi Defense Minister, Muhemmed Bin Salman.
Within Pakistani intelligentsia, the formation of this alliance and Pakistan's inclusion was criticized because of absence of Iran in this alliance and in the analysis its formation was deemed more sectarian in nature than anything else.
Before that, Saudi Arabia seek Pakistan's cooperation in Yemen war against Houthis but Pakistan took a neutral discourse and engaged both Iran and Saudi Arabia for solving the crisis through peaceful means. Saudi Arabia and many of its allies accused Iran for supporting Houthis in Yemen who overthrew a pro-Riyadh regime in 2015. Saudi Arabia launched military attack against Houthis after their leader threatened to attack the larger Kingdom and not stopping at Macca but reaching Riyadh. Pakistani government and military leadership was under tremendous pressure to be part of Saudi led coalition but Pakistan took a neutral stand on this issue and didn't send troops partly, sighting severe sectarian backlash and partly due to the fact that Pakistan Army is no position to become part of any overseas conflict due to on going operation Zarb e Azb in the country.
Now, the sources who have broken this news about Gen Raheel are also saying that Pakistan’s military leadership’s neutral policy towards Saudi Arabia and Iran would remain intact and this office would not cause any change in policies of the Pakistani military.
ANALYSIS:
Right now, it is not clear if this news is true or not in the first place. Even if it is true by any means accepting this request will not be easy for Pakistani COAS.
Clearly, the views about this alliance are divided in Pakistan. This explains why Gen Raheel has been asked to take the seat after his retirement from Pakistan Army as he will be free to decide.
There are number of issues with this offer anyways.
1. It is not clear how this alliance will be able to play any effective role without inclusion of Iran as population in almost every Islamic country is divided into both Shia and Sunni.
2. The biggest caveat to the entire idea of this alliance is its mandate to operate. How will it decide its missions. Will it work within the UN Security Council framework, where not a single Muslim country has permanent representation, or it will conduct its operation on regional level without UN oversight? Both scenario can spiral out into a complex foreign policy disaster.
3. How this alliance will work in situation like India Pakistan rivalry? So far, its mandate has been limited to anti-terrorist operations but will it able to conduct operations against Indian proxy elements who are operating from Afghanistan against Pakistan?
4. How much control Gen Raheel or any other commander for that matter will have on the strategic decision making of the alliance? Which body will oversight it politically? OIC cannot do that without making it all Islamic counties military alliance.
All these questions will have to be addressed to make this alliance effective. This alliance must be formed on the basis of NATO with strong political backing of all the member states otherwise it will be just a glorified police force. As far as Gen Raheel is concerned, as an individual he can choose whatever he deem fit after his retirement. But with all these questions hanging over his conscience, it will not be an easy offer to accept.
Right now, Gen Raheel is in Saudi Arabia attending the conclusion ceremony of North Thunder Exercise along with Pakistani prime minster Nawaz Sharif.

Security and Threat Matrix: ANALYSIS: Gen Raheel and Saudi Led Islamic Military Alliance

 

[litman]

pak should stay far away from the saudis.

 

[Azadkashmir]

general should say can i be saudi citizen n arab wife n property in saudia plus benefits. i wonder wat saudi chita maas say.

 

[saiyan0321]

Well despite his immense experience and success in zarb e azb leading a military coalition of 34 nations which is extremely vague and has not detailed anything apart from an announcement is too risky and he should avoid it. However as many posters have said it above. The Saudis want to use this coalition to increase their war front and would never appoint a non suadi as its commander in chief. Seems like a ploy to get us into Yemen which has been a struggle for GCC...

That's good, He should make record of imposing martial law in 34 countries. All of them have useless governments.

You beat me to it.. What a sight it would be. Impose martial law and create a grand nation with the name of United states of Pakistan. The USP which will use oil money to stand against the USA. :p :p :p