Should the Pakistan army fail in its task of weeding out the Taliban from the country, and should the extremists gain in strength and virulence, there may be no option but for Pakistan to call upon international assistance to rescue it from becoming another Talibanised state. As the short-sighted policy of accomodating the Taliban in the Swat Valley has shown, any feeding of the beast only makes it more ravenous. A modern state cannot countenance the establishment within a region of a retrogressive system of governance based on fear. Thus far, the Pakistan army has yet to throw its full strength behind the anti-Taliban offensive, driven as some within it are of the delusion that they can hold the extremists to a draw and thereafter negotiate peace with them. For years the myth of the “good” Taliban has led international security forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan into allowing elements of that militia to avoid action and thereby escape. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has several times pointed to the folly of such an approach,only to be ignored
The situation within Pakistan is delicate, and for the first time since the 1970s,the Pakistan military may be acting in a manner that no longer puts at risk not only the future of their own country, but the security of the world. Is the army bluffing? Is it serious about battling the Taliban? Or will it relapse once again into extremism? The answer is not clear, but what is obvious is that India needs to monitor the situation very carefully. By fuelling terrorism against India, the Pakistan army has created the conditions that enabled the country to become a safe haven for extremists from all across the world. So long as these mouthed the rhetoric of conducting operations against India, they were encouraged. Most went on to other targets, including in Europe and also China.
Friends of Pakistan need to prepare lists of those within the Pakistan military who are still encouraging extremists, and bring to bear on them the full weight of international sanctions,of the type imposed on war criminals in Africa and the Balkans. Thus far, even an A Q Khan has been given only a light slap on the wrist and is today a free man. Others who are a menace to global security have not even suffered this light “punishment”. This has to be the last chance for the Pakistan army. Unless it pursues the war against the extremists without exception and without restraint,the men in uniform need to be held internationally accountable for their actions.
