VIEW: Sleep well, if you can Shaukat Qadir

We have been told that the entire bombed lot were under training to become terrorists in the future and that the army did the entire country a favour by eliminating them before they could terrorise the hapless citizens of this country; this I believe, because to not do so would be to accuse our own army of genocide!

To begin with, a few words on the operational feasibility of a military strike such as the one carried out in Bajaur where over eighty potential terrorists were killed.

There is little doubt that if a militant training camp is established anywhere in Pakistan, news of its existence would soon be leaked to concerned authorities, there being enough intelligence capability within to ensure this. Once news reaches intelligence agencies, they would verify the accuracy of this information for which purposes drones could be used, which we indeed have, and also helicopters.

We are informed by government spokesmen that both these were put to use before the Bajaur strike was ordered. Our PM has also informed us that evidence of the fact that this particular Madrassa was indeed being used for training terrorists would be made public and discussed in Parliament.

So back to the feasibility: once the target has been verified as hostile, the best and most efficient method of taking it out accurately, precisely, and with minimal collateral damage is by using direct firing weapons from, for instance, armed helicopters and laser guided missiles (other so-called smart weapons are neither smart nor accurate).

Again, government spokesmen have said armed helicopters were employed but have not said that laser guided weapons were used. Local witnesses testify that they saw aircrafts bombing the area. Also, it is established fact that only the madrassa was hit and no casualties occurred outside of it. However, if aircraft were indeed employed, the only way to ensure accuracy from bombs launched from aircraft would be if they were laser guided; otherwise there would have to be collateral damage. Im not certain whether we possess laser-guided capability, but even if we dont, the Americans could have loaned it to us. From a military point of view it was a remarkably efficient and successful strike considering that the objective was to take out the enemy.

We have been told that the strike was carried out by Pakistani troops and not by Americans, for an American attack could amount to an act of war. I believe our spokesmen because not believing them would mean we go to war against the US, which we cannot afford to. There may also be the possibility of our government permitting the Americans to make the strike. But such possibility the government would deny because it would be considered capitulation. We have also been told that the entire bombed lot were being trained to become terrorists and that the army did the entire country a favour by eliminating them before they could terrorise the hapless citizens of this country. This too I believe because to not do so would be to accuse our own army of murder.

I am not an unusually brave man; nor have I had occasion to reach for my Glock when under attack by a suicide bomber. But in the course of my life I have frequently seen death and am aware that the only truth we know is that life is finite and death the inevitable, irreversible reality. Still, people are innocent until proven guilty. The Bajaur victims, however, were not even guilty until proven innocent; they were just guilty; period.

This too I believe because believing otherwise fills me with horror, and like I said, I am not an unusually brave man.

So the terrorists were terrorists and thus guilty but what about the others who died: the teenaged children, for instance, however less or many they might be? I wonder if any of those who pulled the trigger were from Bajaur, or were Pashtun. And even if they werent, they were Pakistanis, werent they. I wonder if any of them have teenaged children.

Some papers claim that a deal was almost struck with the tribal elders of Bajaur and which would have forced them to desist from acts of terrorism. I do not believe that because if that were the case, why would our government initiate such an attack?

I beg my readers to halt here; pause for a minute, perhaps shed a tear or two for those who died in Bajaur to make our lives safer; for those with the courage to take the decision to kill them for our sake as also for the thirty-five soldiers who died in a retaliatory attack in Dargai.

Dont forget even for a second that all the dead made our lives safer.

If evidence is to be presented and if there is indeed evidence to be presented lets put it on the table now; delay only adds to existing suspicions. Drawing room discussions circle around the timing of this act: the visit of Prince Charles, the congressional elections in the US scheduled within days of this attack and, perhaps an attempt by the Americans to sabotage further deals in the tribal areas.

While I have no political theories to offer, one political development as an outcome of this attack is already visible: the once-strong Pashtun nationalist party, which had faded into insignificance, the ANP, has again begun to find an audience, albeit a small one, and Asfandyar Walis call for a grand jirga is evoking a positive response.

We are told that the tribal elders of Bajaur are even more willing now to strike a deal with the government on the governments terms. This might be true; even so, I restate that for every citizen that we kill, we leave behind a grieving and alienated family. I cannot claim to have no blood on my hands but even to me, killing eighty children in their teens and some even younger seems appalling.

I hope that all those involved sleep well, with a clear conscience; I cannot even though I had nothing to do with the strike.

The author is a retired brigadier. He is also former vice president and founder of the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI)