The Swat action

frontier post editorial
It was inevitable. Only this inevitability was artificially kept deferred, no lesser by the federal government too. Not even the ink had dried on it that the ANP's expedient accord with charlatan Sufi was evidently in tatters. The accord's real intent was demobilisation of Swati thug Fazlullah's murderous militia and restoration of the state's writ to the beleaguered valley. But none was anywhere in sight. Fazlullah's brigands had publicly vowed neither to disarm nor to demobilise. Visibly, they consolidated their position in Swat and began fanning out to Buner, Lower Swat and Shangla to entrench, and link up with local Taliban and enlist new recruits to hold on to these regions too. And it was their writ not the state's that ran all over the valley. Indeed, it was weeks ago that the prime minister should have called the army to quash Fazlullah's terrorist network, well before it had got embedded lethally as has it now in Swat and its adjoining territories. The army thus has an uphill task ahead of it, which will take all in it to carry out successfully; more so, as it too is coming with a heavy baggage on its back. When it had come first to Swat to subdue Fazlullah and his thugs, it had enthusiastic local public backing, though also great public expectations. But much of that public sentiment evaporated as the army's operation progressed, with an impression gaining ground among the residents that more innocent civilians were being killed or maimed in collateral damage than were Fazlullah's thugs. The army is thus moving in amid a different environment, charged more with public expectations than with public enthusiasm. But the army can change all that if it puts the lessons learnt in its first campaign to full use and launch into a powerful, focussed, precise and swift action right from the outset. The army indeed will turn the people power solidly on its side if in the very first few days it takes out with precise and accurate air strikes the thuggish brigand's command and control structure, disrupts their logistics systems, snaps their arms supplies and funding pipelines, and nabs or snuffs out their main commanders. That, of course, would demoralise the thugs hurtfully. But, more importantly, this will infuse a new spirit in the people, restoring their trust in the army very advantageously. They will be emboldened to stand up and be counted, now loath to do it for the terrorist gun's fear. Many will be forthcoming voluntarily to point out the thugs' hideouts. And even the greens the thugs have recruited with intimidation or temptation would turn away from them and possibly may even turn back on them. But the key words are punch, precision and swiftness of action, which sadly were lacking in the army's previous operation, drawing it widespread public doubts, misperceptions and even suspicions of being half-hearted in the campaign for harbouring a soft corner for the Swati gunmen. That necessarily calls for streamlining flawlessly its operational details to the extent that on a few minutes' notice it could hit an identified target. Indeed, if the people see the army so succeeding, they will not mind personal inconveniences for its campaign to go ahead with all the speed and full vigour. The army here has really a chance to demonstrate to our own people that it knows of no friend or obstacle when it comes to the accomplishment of a task assigned to it; and to its compulsive international detractors that it has all the capability to take on the thugs on their own turf. And for once at least, the ANP must become real and get out of its world of excuses and ruses. After the prime minister's allocation of Rs.1 billion for internally displaced persons, it can have no pretext not to take care of the Swatis seeking refuge outside. It must set up well-maintained and tightly-secured camps in safer places near their homes and post officials to guide them to those encampments. More, it must not falter as it did despicably last time in building upon the gains achieved in the operation by reviving shattered civil administration machinery quickly. If for whatever reason this opportunity to restore the state's writ in Swat is frittered away, the nation will rue it for long woefully.
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Dated: Saturday, May 09, 2009, Jamadi-ul-Awwal 13, 1430 A.H.