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Posted by Dr. Manzer Durrani in Defense on December 3rd, 2011

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Kargil War and Nawaz Sharif’s Blunders

Posted by Dr. Manzer Durrani in Defense on December 1st, 2011


The Indian Version of Kargil War

In the latest such episode, the armed forces tribunal (AFT) has indicted the then 15 Corps commander Lt-General Kishan Pal for doctoring “battle-performance and after-action reports” to belittle the achievements of the then Batalik-based 70 Infantry Brigade commander Devinder Singh.
Directing the directorate of military operations to rewrite some portions of the official history, “Operation Vijay: Account of the War in Kargil”, the AFT headed by Justice A K Mathur said Lt-Gen Pal’s biased assessment of Brig Singh should be expunged from the records.
“I feel vindicated. As per the order, I will also be considered for promotion to the notional rank of a major-general and the records about the operations by my brigade in the war will be set straight,” said Brig (retd) Singh, who has fought a long and hard legal battle to restore his honour.
Lt-Gen Pal, who had infamously described the massive Kargil intrusions by Pakistani Army regulars as a “local” skirmish with a handful of infiltrators in the initial days, went on to get a gallantry medal after the conflict.
Similarly, several other senior officers were rewarded despite ignoring early warnings about the massive intrusions, wrong assessments and flawed leadership during the conflict which led to the death of 527 Indian soldiers.
In sharp contrast, Brig Singh — who had even predicted the pattern of intrusions by the Pakistani Army regulars before the conflict and later got injured during the operations — was left high and dry, without a war medal and passed over for promotion.
“Many lives would have been saved if my assessment had been taken seriously,” said Brig Singh, who directed his brigade troops during the critical assaults on Point 5203 and the Jubar Complex in the Batalik sector.
The then Army chief General V P Malik, who himself attracted flak for not cutting short his “goodwill” visit abroad during the initial days of the Kargil intrusions, on his part, said Brig Singh’s case was “an aberration” which was now rightly getting corrected.
“I believe the issue was at the level of the brigade, division and corps. To pass a judgment on the entire Indian Army and to suggest the entire war history was fudged is most unfair,” Gen (retd) Malik told journalists.
The fact, however, remains that the AFT judgment has come as a major embarrassment to the Army. It might get worse in the coming days because several other petitions connected to the Kargil conflict are pending in different AFT benches.
These include ones by officers — like the then 121 Brigade commander Surinder Singh, who was dismissed during the operations, and Major Manish Bhatnagar — who feel they were made “scapegoats” to “save the skin of top generals”.
The Army, on its part, on Thursday said it was awaiting a copy of the AFT judgment in Brig Singh’s case. “Once we get it, it will be analysed and appropriate action would be taken,” said a senior officer.
Brig Singh certainly hopes so. He had filed a complaint with Army HQs in 2000 itself, charging Lt-Gen Pal with bias, but it was rejected two years later. In 2004, the defence ministry struck down Lt-Gen Pal’s assessment of Brig Singh’s battle performance but refused to strike down key sections of his annual confidential reports written by the general.

Kargil war: Lt-Gen doctored TNN reports But skeletons about the then top military leadership’s dubious conduct during the conflict continue to tumble out of the cupboard with alarming regularity even now.
In the latest such episode, the armed forces tribunal (AFT) has indicted the then 15 Corps commander Lt-General Kishan Pal for doctoring “battle-performance and after-action reports” to belittle the achievements of the then Batalik-based 70 Infantry Brigade commander Devinder Singh.
Directing the directorate of military operations to rewrite some portions of the official history, “Operation Vijay: Account of the War in Kargil”, the AFT headed by Justice A K Mathur said Lt-Gen Pal’s biased assessment of Brig Singh should be expunged from the records.
“I feel vindicated. As per the order, I will also be considered for promotion to the notional rank of a major-general and the records about the operations by my brigade in the war will be set straight,” said Brig (retd) Singh, who has fought a long and hard legal battle to restore his honour.
Lt-Gen Pal, who had infamously described the massive Kargil intrusions by Pakistani Army regulars as a “local” skirmish with a handful of infiltrators in the initial days, went on to get a gallantry medal after the conflict.
Similarly, several other senior officers were rewarded despite ignoring early warnings about the massive intrusions, wrong assessments and flawed leadership during the conflict which led to the death of 527 Indian soldiers.
In sharp contrast, Brig Singh — who had even predicted the pattern of intrusions by the Pakistani Army regulars before the conflict and later got injured during the operations — was left high and dry, without a war medal and passed over for promotion.
“Many lives would have been saved if my assessment had been taken seriously,” said Brig Singh, who directed his brigade troops during the critical assaults on Point 5203 and the Jubar Complex in the Batalik sector.
The then Army chief General V P Malik, who himself attracted flak for not cutting short his “goodwill” visit abroad during the initial days of the Kargil intrusions, on his part, said Brig Singh’s case was “an aberration” which was now rightly getting corrected.
“I believe the issue was at the level of the brigade, division and corps. To pass a judgment on the entire Indian Army and to suggest the entire war history was fudged is most unfair,” Gen (retd) Malik told journalists.
The fact, however, remains that the AFT judgment has come as a major embarrassment to the Army. It might get worse in the coming days because several other petitions connected to the Kargil conflict are pending in different AFT benches.
These include ones by officers — like the then 121 Brigade commander Surinder Singh, who was dismissed during the operations, and Major Manish Bhatnagar — who feel they were made “scapegoats” to “save the skin of top generals”.

The Army, on its part, on Thursday said it was awaiting a copy of the AFT judgment in Brig Singh’s case. “Once we get it, it will be analysed and appropriate action would be taken,” said a senior officer.
Brig Singh certainly hopes so. He had filed a complaint with Army HQs in 2000 itself, charging Lt-Gen Pal with bias, but it was rejected two years later. In 2004, the defence ministry struck down Lt-Gen Pal’s assessment of Brig Singh’s battle performance but refused to strike down key sections of his annual confidential reports written by the general.

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US Designs to Destabilise Asia

Posted by Dr. Manzer Durrani in Defense on December 1st, 2011

US Designs to Destabilise Asia

During the last two decades, political experts have already been saying that the US which is acting upon a secret strategy, wants to make India the superpower of Asia in order counterbalance China, while this game has openly been disclosed by the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who was on three-day trip to India.
In this regard, on July 20 this year, Hillary Clinton urged India to be more assertive in Asia, saying that the country should play more of a leadership role. She explained,

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An ANSF Soldier:”THAT unit that called in Air Support, no Afghan will ever call in or direct coalition aircraft. Period.”

Posted by Dr. Manzer Durrani in Defense on November 27th, 2011

“I can assure you that Afghan troops did NOT call in air support. Ive done two tours in Afghanistan and have worked closely with the ANSF. Most cant read, do not understand or use maps, have no concept of GPS and cannot use a compass. All essential tools for All Arms Call for Fire and calling in Close Air Support. They may have requested aircraft to assist them but they in no way possess the capability or skill to call in air support in any way shape or form. If they were partnered with a coalition force, then it was THAT unit that called in Air Support, no Afghan will ever call in or direct coalition aircraft. Period.”

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NATO’s Pakistan Raid Dents Pak-U.S. Ties

Posted by Dr. Manzer Durrani in Defense on November 27th, 2011

Pakistan for the first time publicly asked the United States to vacate its strategically important air base in the country’s southwest in angry reaction to the Friday night killing of 24 soldiers in a NATO bombing of two border posts in a tribal region.
Pakistan’s powerful military and the top civilian leadership were on the same page to seek U.S. vacation of the Shamsi air base in Balochistan province within 15 days when they met at an emergency session of the Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC) Saturday night. Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani presided over the DCC meeting and Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff Committee, three services chiefs and several key ministers attended the meeting.
Call for vacation of the Pakistan Air Force key base, near the border with Afghanistan and Iran, also resolved the long mystery as to who had been using the air base. When former President Pervez Musharraf took a U-turn on Pakistan’s policy vis-a-vis the Afghan Taliban and joined the U.S-led coalition following the 9/11 attacks, Shamsi was one of the bases handed over to the American forces to use against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
The Shamsi air base, located some 320 km southwest of Quetta, the provincial capital, was believed to be used by the U.S. for military operations in Afghanistan until 2006. Pakistan media have reported quite a few times that the same air field was also used for the CIA-run drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal regions against the al-Qaeda remnants, Afghan and Pakistan Taliban in 2009.
Pakistan Air Force Chief Air Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman disclosed in the parliament days after the killing of Osama bin Laden that the Shamsi air base had been under the control of the United Arab Emirates. The local media then reported that the UAE had also allowed the U.S. to use the facility for drone aircraft operations.
The U.S. has not yet responded to Islamabad’s call but the development has put the U.S. in an awkward situation as Pakistan has made it public that the facility is under the use of the American army. The U.S. has always been very sensitive when secrets are made public and they will prefer to quit the Pakistani base as it will now feel its troops or assets, if any, in risk there. The facility had been very useful for the U.S. as it was safe to stay and easily to use for operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan and even for spying on Iran and other neighboring countries.
The NATO raid also led to closure of Pakistan’s land route for nearly 150,000 foreign forces in neighboring Afghanistan. Some 70 percent supplies are transported for U.S.-led NATO forces via Pakistan, the shortest route. The U.S. has already struck a deal with Russia and several Central Asian states for alternate routes in view of routine attacks on NATO supply vehicles in Pakistan. There had been a brief disruption in NATO supplies in the past but if Pakistan blocked the route for a long time, it could affect supplies for foreign forces as the long and complicated Russian and Central Asian routes would not meet requirements of NATO forces.
Sensing gravity of the situation the U.S. and NATO expressed regrets over the deaths of Pakistanis and promised investigation. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton conveyed condolences when Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar rang up her to tell that the Pakistani leadership wants the U.S. to vacate the country ‘ s air base and that Islamabad has closed the NATO supply line. The NATO Secretary General also issued a condolence message but this may not placate the angry Pakistan as the country’s leadership has already insisted that the NATO bombing was not an accident but was an intentional act. Pakistan’s chief military spokesman Athar Abbas says the NATO-bombed area had been cleared by Pakistani forces of militants and there was no justification for the NATO action. The NATO says investigation into the raid is being done and an unidentified Western diplomat has been quoted as saying that the NATO fighter planes fired in self defence.
Pakistan also argues that NATO/ISAF attacks were also violative of their mandate which was confined to Afghanistan and that Pakistan had clearly conveyed to the US/NATO/ISAF its red lines which constituted an integral element of Pakistan’s cooperation that was based on a partnership approach.
Another serious warning has come from Pakistan to “undertake a complete review of all programs, activities and cooperative arrangements with the US/NATO/ISAF, including diplomatic, political, military and intelligence.” This decision is worrisome for the U.S. and its NATO allies at a time when foreign forces have started withdrawal from Afghanistan and the war-shattered country stability and Islamabad’s role is believed to be very important for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan. The NATO raid is seen as a serious blow for peace efforts in Afghanistan, which has already been halted in the wake of the tragic assassination of the chief of the Afghan Peace High Council, Prof. Burhanuddin Rabbani in September. Pakistan is believed to have deep influence on the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani Network and can bring them to the negotiation table but in the current circumstances, Pakistan would not agree to play any role.
Local media reports that Pakistan may boycott the coming Bonn Conference on Afghanistan has sent troublesome messages across the world although the Pakistani Foreign Ministry has not confirmed the reports but also did not deny it. The Afghan Foreign Ministry issued a special appeal to Pakistan not to boycott the conference. The Afghan Foreign Ministry hoped that Pakistan had promised to attend the conference at the Foreign Minister’s level and that it would honor its promise. The German Foreign Minister also called his Pakistani counterpart on Sunday and it is believed that he asked Pakistan to attend the conference.
Pakistani officials say they would wait and see what action the U.S. and NATO take against those responsible for the deadly raid and would take more steps in the near future. Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani will speak in the parliament to make a policy statement and he may announce more steps to review ties with the U. S. and NATO.

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