The country at war with herself (23082008)

The war being fought by Pakistan is not a war fought on a specific front nor is it a war for gaining territory or even with an external enemy. This war was started by the Chief of Army Staff General Musharraf when he held absolute power over Pakistan for eight and half long years. When he was narrating his achievements in his resignation speech he seemed to have suffered from selective amnesia by completely forgetting to claim credit for this war which he started.
During Field Marshal and Military Ruler Ayub Khan's period as the President, the country was engaged in one major war in 1965. After him, under General Yahya Khan, the country fought and was defeated in the second major war of the country's history in 1971, which cost the country half its territory. During the period of General Ziaul Huq's rule the country fought a war with Russia in Afghanistan, lost parts of Kargil to India without fighting and became a hotbed of many proxy wars by foreign intelligence agencies in Pakistan. During General Musharraf's first few months as the Army Chief Pakistan nearly went to war with India on Kargil issue, having lost hundreds of soldiers in an ill-planned campaign conceived by General Musharraf when he was DGMO and carried out when he was COAS. The pull back from a full scale war over Kargil was only achieved by the political leadership rushing to USA for end to hostilities with India and as a result the then COAS General Musharraf sent the elected leadership packing home, usurping power for almost nine years during which he started a civil war in Pakistan at the behest of Americans. This civil war, which was never our own war, became our war after thousands of Pakistanis suffered fatalities at the hands of our own government.
Thus, we again stand at a juncture in the history where a military ruler and dictator has been forced out leaving the country in an unholy mess. When Ayub left there were riots and agitation, when Yahya left there was a war and disintegration, when Zia left the whole society was divided on ethnic and sectarian lines and now with Musharraf's departure the country is at war with her own people.
Every retired military general who speaks to media says the same thing and that is, no country can win a war against her own people, furthermore, use of force will not bring peace and we are witnessing this in Sri Lanka for past few decades. Today the country, her security personnel and citizens are not safe anywhere. The attacks are coming at random: one day it is a middle class locality in Lahore, next day it is an Air-force bus in Peshawar, then it is a hospital in D.I. Khan and then a military weapons factory in Wah, which is a military town. The militants are so bold that they are now appearing with their picture on the electronic media claiming credit for the attacks and threatening more attacks in the major cities.
These attacks are compounded by ongoing battles in Swat, Bajour and Hangu, where hundreds of thousands are displaced and there is no record of those killed or injured. Some political elements in the country are demanding the trial of General Pervez Musharraf, but if anyone should demand trial of Musharraf it should be the Army and not just a trial, he should be court marshalled for all the crimes he has committed in uniform which have cost the Army tens of thousands of soldiers and brought its name in disrepute.
Alas, that will never happen, instead country's economy is kept under immense pressure by downward pressure on Rupee and slide of the stock market, making investors run away in a stampede. The politicians sadly are still trying to get their house in order. But the time is running out, the politicians and the civilian governments no longer have five years or even five months, they have less time than that to prove that they are upto the job! The game being played in Pakistan is designed in such a manner to ensure that the civilian government fails, falls and is discredited paving way for yet more adventures.