Opinion Security at sea

Coming within weeks of the Abbottabad operation,which Pakistan’s security agencies failed to detect,this high-profile attack has embarrassed the armed forces,according to Pakistan’s newspapers. An article in The News on May 23 viewed: “One incident after another,and security lapse after lapse,have completely exposed the extremely substandard capabilities of the country’s security forces to secure even themselves.” However,Pakistan’s navy chief,Admiral Noman Bashir,ruled out any security lapses having led to the attack,reported Daily Times on May 24. He also announced that the navy was trying to relocate Mehran Naval Base and other vital installations away from residential areas,as it was becoming difficult to ensure their security. Pakistan’s prime minister was reportedly monitoring the situation himself,and convened a cabinet defence committee meeting on the attack.

On May 25,there were some punishing consequences,according to a Dawn report: “Pakistan on Wednesday removed the commander of a naval air base… Although a navy spokesman insisted the transfer was pre-planned and unconnected to the… assault,Pakistan’s military is under increasing domestic pressure to be held accountable over security lapses. ‘Commodore Khalid Pervez is taking over as the base commander and his predecessor Raja Tahir will be assigned new responsibilities,’ Commander Salman Ali,a navy spokesman,told AFP. He did not say what new job the outgoing commander will hold.”

Shortly after the crisis-ridden PNS Mehran was brought under control,the Taliban launched another attack,this time on a civilian target in Hangu,Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Daily Times reported on May 27 that a suicide bomber blew up a car laden with explosives at a checkpoint near the Hangu police station and Hangu DPO Office on Thursday,killing 32 and wounding 60. It also reported that a Taliban spokesman warned of more attacks: “‘Soon you will see bigger attacks. Revenge for Osama can’t be satisfied just with small attacks.’”

Amidst widespread apprehension that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal might be under threat from extremist elements,on May 27,Daily Times carried an interview Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan gave to The Wall Street Journal: “Pakistan is the only Muslim nuclear power state… the Taliban had no intention of changing that fact. ‘Isn’t it a shame for us to have the Islamic bomb,and even then we are bowing down to the pressures of America?’”

A gentler world

British Prime Minister David Cameron’s suggestion to visiting US President Barack Obama,to not turn away from Pakistan at this crucial juncture,has been received well by Pakistan’s newspapers. Dawn hailed Cameron in its May 27 editorial: “The West’s anger against Pakistan in the wake of the Osama bin Laden killing seems to be giving way to a more realistic assessment of the situation in the country. An indication of this sober reflection came on Wednesday when the British prime minister asked the West to work more closely with Islamabad to defeat terrorism… With President Barack Obama by his side,Mr Cameron seemed categorical about his position on Islamabad when he said Pakistan’s ‘enemy is our enemy’. More significantly,it was to ‘the West’ that he addressed his concerns,and said the Western world should redouble its efforts to help Pakistan stamp out terrorism. Across the Atlantic,one can detect a similar softening towards Pakistan,despite the frustration over Islamabad’s failure to discover bin Laden’s whereabouts… Senators John Kerry and Richard Lugar,besides some South Asia experts,pleaded for continued engagement with Pakistan. Even more forthright has been the US defence secretary who said that the money given to Islamabad had not gone to waste.”

Hillary’s surprise

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton landed in Islamabad,in what The Express Tribune on May 27 termed as a “surprise visit.” Different papers have different takes on the visit. While The Express Tribune called it a “short visit to discuss how both countries can rebuild trust to fight the war against terrorism,” Dawn viewed it as an American measure to ask Pakistan some “tough questions.” The News maintained it was aimed at “mending” US-Pak ties. The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff,Admiral Mike Mullen,is already in Pakistan.

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