Why Political Leaders Completely Lack Understanding of How Military Functions?

ISLAMABAD: In the verbal clashes between Federal And KP provincial government over Tirah valley situation, the meanings of the terms related to military activity in the region have themselves been lost into the mist of confusion.

While the Defense Minister, Khawaja Asif has denied that the federal government was contemplating any military operations in the region, the term military’s media wing used for ongoing military activity in border districts of KP is none other than military operations.

Chief Minister, Suhail Afridi also uses the term military operations for the military activity in the region which, according to him, forced the local residents to migrate towards urban areas of KP. Are these three entities and personalities using three different definitions of military operations to describe the ongoing military activity in the region.

It seems the Federal government wants the people of Pakistan to distinguish between full spectrum military operations that took place between 2009 and 2014 in South and North Waziristan and the small scale Intelligence Based Operations that are being conducted at the moment. Drawing from the history of security efforts in North and  South Waziristan the primary differences lie in their scope, tactical approach, and humanitarian impact.

Full spectrum military operations are aimed at “clearing and holding” territory that TTP was controlling and holding before 2018.

For instance in 2009 Pakistani military conducted Operation Rah-e-Nijat in South Waziristan and in 2014 the military again conducted Operation Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristan. In these operations around 30,000–40,000 took part supported by air assets. On the other hand Intelligence-Based Operations are surgical, “small-unit actions targeted at specific individuals or cells based on real-time data. They occur continuously rather than as a single “campaign”.

Full spectrum military operations use heavy weaponry, including tanks, artillery, and fighter jets to destroy militant infrastructure and command centers. Intelligence based operations on the other hand are aimed at preventing the militant groups from engaging in any particular terror attack.

The military operations involve large scale displacement of local population to avoid collateral damage. On the other hand IBOs are aimed at minimizing disruption to the local population. For instance, Operation Zarb-e-Azb displaced nearly 1 million people, creating a huge population of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who faced severe challenges in repatriation and rehabilitation.

It seems the Federal government has failed to clarify these distinctions between full spectrum military operations and Intelligence based operations at the grass root level. Similarly the provincial government and its leaders are clueless about this distinction and the implications of this distinction for the humanitarian situation that the people of the area are facing amid extreme weather conditions.

The political leadership is displaying extreme lack of understanding of how the military functions and what are the requirements of a military operation. The chaos in the government circles that we are witnessing is perhaps the result of lack of proper communication between the provincial and government on the one hand and provincial and military authorities on the other hand.

All the experts are clear on the point that the outcomes of full spectrum military operations and Intelligence based operations differ strongly in terms of humanitarian and socioeconomic toll. But it seems the federal and provincial governments have completely missed the point