Pakistan made a 'scapegoat' in terror war

‘We are at war in FATA against the extremists’,he said.

‘We have lost more than 1200 soldiers in this war. This includes one three star, one two star and a number of one star generals. Other than US casualties in Iraq, this is the largest number of casualties sustained by any country fighting terrorism. Additionally thousands of civilians have been killed in suicide bombings and targeted killings’.

He said military force alone cannot win the war there or in Afghanistan where govts, including the US, must win support of the people through other means.

‘Force must be complemented by political, economic and social engagement’,he said. ‘Force alone is an insufficient objective to win the hearts and minds of the populace’.

He acknowledged the presence of Taliban and al Qaeda fighters in the border areas but rejected that there were safe havens there.

He called on the US to provide more night-time fighting equipment and urged Afghanistan to add hundreds more military posts along its side of the border to match those installed by Pakistan.

He also gave a frank appraisal of the daunting challenges of rising food and fuels prices Pakistan faces as it moves towards full democracy following eight long years of former President Pervez Musharraf’s dictatorial rule.

The challenges, he said, must be overcome within the space of months or at the most a year or so. ‘Only then can we afford to take a look at various developmental issues we face like provision of meaningful contemporarily relevant education, provision of healthcare, dealing with the dilapidated infrastructure and bringing Pakistan into the international economic mainstream’.