Disaster returns
It is said that when we are at the helm of power or leading a movement, taking any lesson from history is sometimes difficult, especially when emotional involvement or philosophical bias is present. When a hostile intelligence service succeeds in conducting a well-timed tragic action like the BDR rebellion, it is usually not the end of their wicked design. Successful destruction of Twin Tower, Moscow bombing, Bali (night club) bombing, Islamabad/Mumbai hotel bombing and shooting spree are few recent examples. HIS utilized them only as a catalyst or as initiation of a well devised and elaborate objective. Twin Tower has caused destruction of two Muslim countries. Moscow bombing provided legitimacy for the destruction of Chechnya's Muslims; Bali bombing separated East Timor from Indonesia. Mumbai bombing brought two neighbouring countries at the brink of war where Muslim Pakistan is critically positioned between global and regional threat with an apparently unsolvable problem of religious extremism, the Taliban movement. Taking a closer look at all these recent incidents, it is not very difficult to find a pattern. Hence, should we consider the BDR uprising as an isolated event and it ends here? As we have failed to detect and act properly before the incident, how can we be sure that we are capable of preventing the rest of the plan which for sure will have a greater impact on our national security? Did the brutal killings take place only for the flimsy demands as said in the media or, was it just a spur of the moment action? Within the next few days, after the initial investigations, it had become obvious that this had been the act of an ingeniously planned, timed and executed event which has the potential to serve the purpose of several groups in fulfilling their hidden agenda. Now to uncover the total plot will take some trained mind with meticulous eyes and ears to follow trails left by the event. The subsequent questioning of the suspects will provide the missing pieces to complete the puzzle. This must be achieved before the trail gets cold and the evidence starts to decay or simply disappear. The assistance of FBI or Scotland Yard can be and should be used only in this area of the investigation. Army officers along with their men are placed in charge of the crisis. Emotion is percolating fast; grief has set in which may hinder their effort in handling such a delicate and crucial task. Unfortunately, the situation failed to produce a common platform for our leaders to stand together and join hands before the bubbles of emotions burst to fulfill the subsequent agenda of the insurgents. No one is expected to deny the emotional outburst at the loss of the loved ones but we must accept that the country has been brought on the threshold of another Kansat, Fulbari coal mine upsurge, 68 districts bombing and such. It is rather pathetic that this poor country is at the mercy of such hostile forces which are able to stage a plot at any time and place of their choosing. By now they have achieved two tiers of successes: one, by killing a large number of senior officers and then infusing sufficient emotional hate in the mind of the loved ones, including rank and file of the armed forces. The intelligence organizations that have failed to detect it may not be able to prevent the next threat or the subsequent ones from happening. We have failed repeatedly, as our human intelligence and technological intelligence is far inferior to the insurgents. It is evident from the fact that there wasn't any prior indication to the situation by our intelligence authority. Structurally we lack in human intelligence as in most cases the intelligence departments are run by loyalists with their own personal or political agenda, not by the professionals who dedicated their life to protect the nation and its people. During peace time we cannot fight the brutal war of intelligence with such professionally deaf and dumb organizations. Such incidents leave a far more brutal and devastating impact than a conventional war as we have witnessed last week. When democratic environment is affected by corruption, decision makers prefer to put their cronies in administrative echelon; true professionalism never gets a chance. It is virtually impossible for a general duty military or civil bureaucrat to run an intelligence organization efficiently. However, the idea of someone in uniform running such organizations is the biggest blunder that the Third World leaderships are committing recurrently, making them constantly vulnerable in the hands of hostile forces. A politician is not expected to be a professional intelligence person; he or she only has to know how to select a professional for the job. To be a professional one needs three distinct inputs: training, knowledge and experience. First world, other than some exceptions, follow it religiously; even our neighbor India is meticulous in this regard. The mindset of these selected people may vary from being level-headed to the very authoritative. But it is they who are responsible to create an environment that helps the national leaders to make the right decision. In today's highly contested global economic market, a visionary leader who can lay the foundation of such an idea can bolster the national interest to last forever. If these organizations are run by unskilled persons, the country will suffer similar consequence over and over again. Preparation for war of intelligence is protracted in nature but the final action is sudden and short in duration. Ultimate failure is not in the debatable pitfalls in managing the crisis; the failure is in sensing and monitoring the motivational condition of target audience that has been making a gradual shift from disciplined state of mind to a frustrated, hateful and explosive one. That is where we are failing constantly. After every incident we get bogged down in investigation or managing the hatred mongers. Solution of this national crisis lies not in blame game or in expression of emotional venom; true solution is in unity not in disharmony, which the war mongers would try hard to achieve. At the end the lesson is, a nuclear scientist cannot conduct a simple surgery and a professional surgeon cannot stitch a shirt. We need professionals to run the intelligence organizations. Our continuous failure in selecting the right man for the right job will provide opportunity for our enemies to strike us any time of his choosing over and over again.
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