Dargai Devastation
By Col. Riaz Jafri
(Retd)
Rawalpindi, Pakistan
A wrong is a wrong, how-so-ever
one might try to justify it. Killing of 83 men
was wrong and we must accept it as such. It was
also wrong to take the blame for what is widely
believed to be an American handiwork. US intelligence
failed them once again regarding the presence
of Ayman al-Zawahiri – Al Qaeda number two
man - in Bajaur area and consequently a seminary
was hit by the deadly Predator causing the carnage.
Violation of Pakistan airspace for yet another
time by the US forces would have been too embarrassing
for the government who took an easy way out of
it by claiming the kill itself.
A repercussion of Dargai sorts was bound to come
and should have been anticipated by all, especially
the armed forces and that too located near the
gateway to the Bajaur agency.
Agreed, the recruits’ training area was
in the open, close to the main road and not protected
by a wall, yet some effective arrangements for
a controlled perimeter access could have been
put in place.
Allowing a free run to an alighting passenger
wrapped in a chaddar hiding explosives underneath,
from a road side bus stop to the middle of the
thick of a company of recruits doing their normal
daily training speaks volumes about the laxity
of the required safety measures on the part of
the higher ups.
Ironically, those entrusted with the task of protecting
the others could not protect even themselves.
Dargai devastation is a tragedy that could have
been averted, albeit with a little foresight.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
