FOR several days, I remained uncertain about what to call this article. I knew what I wanted to write about: the deepening security and law-and-order challenges confronting Pakistan, unfolding against political uncertainty and a persistent wave of terrorist attacks across the country and the potentially far-reaching consequences for our nation’s future. Yet I was equally certain about what I did not want to write. I did not want to revisit the familiar exercise of assigning blame for every difficulty Pakistan has faced over the decades. We have heard those arguments many times, from many sides. Repeating them may satisfy our desire to explain the past, but it does little to prepare us for what lies ahead.

After nearly four decades in the Pakistan Army, much of that time in intelligence and now involved in the private security sector, I have had the opportunity to observe national security from different perspectives. My intention here is not to offer political judgment, but to share a few observations from another time that may help illuminate the present. I write neither to defend nor to oppose anyone. I have no political side to take and no score to settle. I write simply as a Pakistani and as someone who spent decades wearing the uniform of his country.

Perhaps, some of those experiences and the lessons they carry, may help us look at today’s Pakistan with greater clarity and, more importantly, think more seriously about the Pakistan we are leaving for tomorrow. One of the difficult realities of an intelligence professional is that the wider consequences of events are often understood........

© Pakistan Observer