IN the wake of an attack on the GHQ and suicidal bomb blasts in many cities, a military operation in South Waziristan was launched. This is the culmination of the military’s strategic planning to wipe out the bastion of extremism and destroy its operational capability. The first phase of the operation is to complete in two months. As the operation begins to make a successful headway, the Taliban are reacting desperately by unleashing a wave of powerful reprisal bomb explosions in Islamabad and Peshawar in particular. The blasts have caused great damage to life and property but the damage to the morale of the state apparatus and the population at large is greater.

Meanwhile, the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a trip to Pakistan amidst great fanfare but had nothing new to say. It was the usual recounting of the immense amount of funds the US had already disbursed and reassuring Pakistanis that much more funds were in the pipeline, subject to satisfactory compliance with US edicts. Her sessions with the media were notable because of the bold and pertinent questions she had to face from the Pakistani newsmen and the university students in Lahore. Her response to many questions was diplomatic rather than factual.

In brief, the message she tried to convey was that the Pakistani establishment was turning a blind eye to the existence of Al Qaeda leadership on Pakistani soil. This mission apart, there was a reiterated reference to aid package of $7.5 billion over the next five years to further American strategy in the region without any demur. She proclaimed the turning of a new page in US-Pakistan relations but only time will tell what the new page has in store for the people of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Coming back to the situation in the tribal areas, it is imperative to trace the roots of the insurgency in the tribal areas adjacent to the Afghan border. For this, one has to go back to the events of 9/11and immediately afterwards. As Gen Pervez Musharraf has written in his book, President Bush's speech and a phone call from deputy secretary Armitage was enough to bring about a complete U-turn in the regime's policy with regard to Afghanistan and Taliban.

When the US invaded Afghanistan, there was a sudden influx of refugees in the tribal areas. They took shelter there in accordance with the tribal customs governing such matters. Since the US as well as Pakistani leadership were convinced that the campaign in Afghanistan would be over as soon as the Taliban government in Kabul was overthrown, they did not pay much attention to the exodus. But the events did not take place according to their plan. The war in Afghanistan kept raging and the increasing exasperation of the US government forced the Pakistani government to resort to a disastrous military action to oust the Taliban and refugee elements from the tribal areas, especially the Waziristan region.

Many years down the road after that horrendous display of death and destruction, another operation in South Waziristan is now under way to decisively smash the organisational structure of the Taliban. It is clear that the war in the tribal areas is not a conventional warfare fought to capture and hold territory. It is more like a guerilla war. A it happens in a war of attrition, time is exchanged for space to alter the balance of forces.

The war in South Waziristan has entered the third week and the military spokesman is optimistic about the eventual outcome .The objective will no doubt be realised since there is going to be no great effort on the part of the opposing forces to fight battles of fixed positions. The real problem is what happens after that. As long as there is unrest in Afghanistan, it will continue to have its fallout on the tribal areas and the rest of Pakistan. There can be little doubt about that. How and when the problem of Afghanistan is resolved is mainly up to the US and its Nato allies to decide but for Pakistan it is of vital importance to wrap up the operation in Waziristan successful as soon as possible because we cannot afford to maintain troop deployment in forward positions indefinitely. Nor can we afford the mayhem in the cities, an offshoot of the operation, for an indefinite period.

The leadership of the present government, especially the military topbrass, is no doubt familiar with Clausewitz's aphorism: “War is a continuation of politics by other means.” The war in South Waziristan is meant to achieve certain political objectives such as elimination of religious extremists, who had created a mini-state there with a different political system altogether or, in other words, had attempted to separate from Pakistan. Would it not be an appropriate follow-up that necessary steps were taken to do away with the social environment that helped nurture the forces of religious extremism? What will be needed is the creation of a new economy, new social relations and new culture which are compliant with their region’s humane, progressive and glorious traditions.

Since the imposition of Gen Zia's martial law, Pakistani society saw a gradual increase in the preaching of the bigoted, obscurantist version of Islam that ultimately marginalised democratic thought and values . From its womb sprang sectarian killers and suicide bombers. During the last twenty years, those at the helm of the affairs after Gen Zia lacked the vision and did not have the courage to address this potential threat. Now that the problem has been thrust upon us we must squarely shoulder the responsibility of correcting past mistakes and bringing about social, political and economic reforms not only in the tribal areas but in the whole of Pakistan to create conditions inimical to the growth of religious extremism and terrorism. Only then can the use of the military measures have any justification.