I was recently invited to a dinner by a doctor friend where I had the opportunity to meet Ethan Casey and Todd Shea. Ethan has written a book called “Alive and Well in Pakistan” which captures his interactions with Pakistanis  in his stay there. Most of the people there were doctors of Pakistani descent living around the Boston area. They had organized a fund raiser a day earlier and the dinner was to get to meet these two gentlemen up close. I had met Todd Shea earlier a couple of years ago and was familiar with his work and admired how he had been able to connect with the people of Kashmir and had decided to settle amongst them. As we got talking it struck me that we in the US of Pakistani descent shared a lot in common the two guests. Todd mentioned that he deliberately travels in T shirt and western clothes without carrying any weapons and the people in Pakistan greatly appreciate it. A lady guest at the dinner,who works in a large retail store,  commented that ever since 9/11 she makes it a point to let people know that she is a Pakistani Muslim and that vast majority of people that she interacts with appreciate it. Ethan and Todd in their efforts are trying to convey to the Americans that Pakistanis are like regular people that have been wrongfully demonized in the US press to suit the narrative concocted by the US policy makers to further their goals of hegemony and power projection.

Unlike Gregg Mortenson and Todd Shea who got engaged in Pakistan in the areas of social engagement, Ethan has engaged America with Pakistan on an intellectual level. The journey that he weaves in his book through the discourse with various elements of the Pakistani society is like looking into a pond, where you find insights into the Pakistani thinking as well as a reflection of an American mind set. Gregg and Todd by and large engage with the poorer and remote parts of Pakistan. Ethan on the other hand interacts with more well to do city dwellers. When Ethan talks in front of American audiences they react to him very differently and get quite confused for what he has to say runs contrary to the carefully controlled narrative that Americans have been fed by the main stream new media. Todd mentioned an interesting story about completely changing the impression of an American in a short elevator ride. He asked the questioned that which is the only country that the USSR threatened with nuclear annihilation and for what. Todd also highlighted his frustration with the like of Anderson Cooper and Geraldo when he tried to make them cover the nearly 200 physicians of Pakistani descent assisting him in responding to the earthquake in Haiti. That story was not covered at all as it did not agree with the overall Pakistani narrative in the US media.

As the conversation went back and forth between their experiences in Pakistan and our experiences in the US, it became clear that the story of our experiences here is equally untold as the story of Westerners in Pakistan.  President of an Islamic Center outside Boston narrated the response by high school students to threats of protests by an extremist christian group that planned to protest outside the center.  These high school kids not only came out in larger numbers, without being asked by the center, but also raised and donated money to the center. He also narrated his experience in front of the town building committee when they were trying to upgrade the center, that a neighbor waited late into the night. And when the turn came he stood up and told the committee that the center had been a good neighbor to the community and that even if there is some deficiency in their proposal they should overlook it. Another gentleman in the gathering who had been the president of the center after 9/11 narrated his story, that when he opened the doors of the center the day after 9/11 he was horrified to see a large gathering of white folks outside, as the center’s membership is of mostly mixed ethnicities.  But then he realized that they were carrying flowers and had come over to make sure nothing untoward happened to the center and wanted to know how they could help.

Framingham Library did a month long activities around Gregg Mortenson’s book “Three Cups of Tea” which included talks about Pakistani history, cultural show of Pakistani dresses and cooking etc.. Local papers are getting into the act of lifting the veil of Muslim and Pakistani customs by writing articles about our faith and its practices. Last year Metro West carried an article called “Muslims celebrate Ramadan, battle misperceptions” about the fasting in Ramadan and how American Muslims go about practicing it. Part of it covered the breaking of the fast at our place.

Javed Jabbar who is conducting a book tour of his book “Pakistan-Unique Origins Unique Destiny?” paints a very different picture of Pakistan in the US. He was invited to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and his talk can be viewed here.

While the challenges in educating Americans about Pakistan are huge, I am encouraged by the presence of people like Ethan, Todd , Gregg and the young American generations who can see the goodness in others and not be swayed by the messages in the mainstream media. The coming years are going to be very trying in the relations between the two countries, but I believe that the truth about Pakistan cannot remain hidden from the American public for too long. At some point the decent among the Americans are going to demand that an end be put to the criminal drone attacks on a country whose leaders have abrogated their responsibilities to protect them.  The destiny of the Planet Earth is intimately linked to the harmonious relationship between the people of these two great countries.

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Today is the ninth anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan by US troops. It is time to reflect on the manner in which US got involved. It is also a good time to look at responsible ways to get out of the Afghan quagmire while ensuring peace for all the nations involved.  To re-phrase the line from the movie “Gladiator”, “Countries should know when the war has been lost”. This comment is not a reflection on the proud soldiers serving there, and has more to do with the policy. I had stated in a publicly broadcast show that the war in Afghanistan had been lost early last year.  Everything since then has gone downhill,  as was easily predictable to those who have the slightest sense of the region. It is already the longest war that US has ever fought. Churchill once said that “America will always do the right thing, but only after exhausting all other options.” It is now time to do the right thing as all the options have been exhausted.

I believe the main reason for hastily attacking Afghanistan after 9/11 was primarily a need to take revenge. This was abundantly evident by the expletive markings on the bombs being loaded onto aircraft aboard aircraft carriers to attack. Pakistani leader was begging for more time to work on Talibans to offer Osama bin Laden for trials. Had the Bush administration not been blinded by sheer hubris, we could have had him and his cohorts without resulting in huge human and monetary loss.

In my opinion the war was lost before it even started. The reasons have to do with the way it was planned. The fundamental long term mistake made then was that we wanted to do Afghanistan on the cheap. Then Secy Rumsfeld was obsessed with containing costs and wanted to do Iraq first. So we chose the easy way in the short term by using Northern Alliance and committed far fewer troops than were needed. These decisions were made in a rush and not enough long term thinking was put in. The result was that Osama got away in Tora Bora and we ended up working with  Northern Alliance, a group far more criminal than the Taliban. An important side effect of this association was giving India the back door space into Afghanistan, as they were supporting the Northern Alliance. We were forced into resorting to the blunt instrument of bombing from the air at the slightest provocation, since we did not have boots on the ground. This in the long run turned us into a brutal occupational force in the eyes of most Afghanis. This fact could be witnessed recently on CBS’s 60 minutes, where US soldiers ventured out only in their armored MRAPS and no Afghani was willing to work with them.

It does not serve anyone much to dwell on the past. What is essential is to do the right thing going ahead. I don’t think US can afford this war in the medium to long term when 40% of the US population is hovering around the poverty line, and the cost of getting one gallon of gasoline to Afghanistan is a whopping $800.

We need to immediately do the following things:

• Training Afghan Army a lot more aggressively.
• Distance ourselves from the Karzai gang of warlords and criminals. ( Read Taliban by Ahmed Rashid  for more details.)
• Get a much larger (300,000+) peace keeping force in Afghanistan, from preferably muslim countries.
• Give more representation to Pashtuns, who are the majority.

We must not do is

• Talk to the Talibans.
• Conduct criminal drone attacks on Afghanistan and Pakistan.
• Alienate Pakistan by military incursions and intrusive activities into their internal affairs.

I am no longer too sure about Churchill’s words. My prediction is that we will be in Afghanistan till well into the next century. I sincerely hope that I am wrong.

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We’ve just passed the 9th anniversary of 9/11 and in lockstep with each passing year’s remembrance of that awful, tragic day, we’re reminded less than a month later of another anniversary, that of the start of America’s longest war—the war in Afghanistan. 

Such as it is, the war has seen progress and setbacks. We failed to capture or kill Osama bin Laden or Ayman al-Zawahiri. Indeed, the $25 million bounty on Osama bin Laden should probably be dropped. It hasn’t worked and only an imbecile would argue that this was due it being too small a figure. Yet in this simple observation surely lies a deeper truth.  Although we might share some aspirations with ordinary Afghans, what we think motivates us in an American cultural setting does not readily apply to the people of Afghanistan or Pakistan. In fact, bounties as a whole have been among the more notable failures of America’s policy in the region, too often proving to be vehicles for acting on local grudges rather than a means to ensnare our enemies.

Similarly, although drone attacks no doubt prove effective at times, their attempts at elimination of enemies generally create disproportionate resentment. Leaving aside their now well documented inaccurate targeting, the underlying resentment has much more to do with the remote-controlled and faceless nature of such attacks rather than their effectiveness or otherwise. Violence is not new to the people of Afghanistan and they pride themselves on their own martial codes. What is new is death-from-a-distance, from an unseen enemy operating from the comfort of an office somewhere in America and dispensing that death with less difficulty than in writing a memo. That resentment has to do with the dishonorable nature of killing without confronting an enemy, without putting one’s own life at risk, sipping a cup of coffee and returning to spouse and family after putting in “a day’s work.”

Mountaineer-turned-author and now deeply committed peace-worker, Greg Mortenson’s two books, Three Cups of Tea and Stones into Schools, along with his Central Asia Institute’s Pennies for Peace initiative stand on the other side of the chasm separating success from failure. The approach exemplified in his excellent and timely works require more patience and less spectacle. Yet, their successes are spectacular nonetheless and now America’s politicians and generals are paying heed to his words. Through vivid descriptions of his encounters with the people of the region he illustrates their willingness to reciprocate when confronted with (especially face-to-face) gestures of goodwill and efforts to rebuild their homes, schools and clinics.

It may no longer be important to capture or kill bin Laden or al-Zawahiri, and as long as the underlying resentments fester, there’ll be other bin Ladens and his ilk. But if there’s to be an end to this war that makes any kind of sense, we need to build on what works. Cultivating and acting upon a deeper understanding of the people we choose to affect, works. Sadly, however, it’s an understanding which most Americans, including many politicians, seem to lack. This isn’t the same as merely studying the people in the manner of a student or observer. One has to live within that world to embrace its truths. Mortenson’s words provide a graphic reminder of how important it is to take the trouble to do that and achieve a deeper understanding of a people, giving up something of oneself in the process.

And while his work is in the realm of facts and experiences he shares with his reader, other approaches from the world of fiction such as this writer’s own novel, SIKANDER, provide a different vehicle for internalizing how people of a different religious, cultural and ethnic makeup are motivated to think and act. After all, fiction can often provide access to otherwise inaccessible ways of living and experiencing those realities, and do so in as much detail and context as the narrative is able to convey.

After nine long years, simply having a dignified exit strategy is as unlikely to be a winning move as was America’s neglect of the region after the Soviet withdrawal. We need to respect unfamiliar customs, like the jirga system of tribal justice, the right to bear arms, and counter-intuitive customs like the obligation to defend a protection-seeker whether friend or foe, to name just a few examples. We need to avoid demonizing institutions like madrassahs based purely on the superficial imagery of TV sound- and video-bites. We need depth of understanding to equip us to discriminate the good from the bad. In short, we need to help the local people re-establish a functioning society which isn’t alien to their long-standing sensibilities. Only then will an American entry have had any meaning and an American exit be a cause for celebration.

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Salman Ahmed is a well known musician out of Pakistan and South Asia. He is the founder of one of the most famous rock bands out of that region by the name of Junoon. He has recently written a book by the name of “Rock and Roll Jihad“. When I first heard about the book and the title it struck me as something odd. Rock and Roll and Jihad had until now not been said in the same sentence. Jihad in Arabic language means to strive. In the Islamic religious sense it means  “striving in the cause of God”. Jihad has been classified either as al-jihād al-akbar (the greater jihad), the struggle against one’s soul (nafs), or al-jihād al-asghar (the lesser jihad), the external, physical effort, often implying fighting.  Having had seen Salman grow from a cute little child to what he is now, it does not take much to understand how he has used his musical skills to achieve social activism in fighting injustices, bigotry, national animosities, disease, religious misunderstandings, religious radicalism and the list goes on.

Salman could have simply been satisfied with writing and producing love songs and could have reaped the economic rewards given the fame of his band. Instead he used that fame to achieve social and political change. He rose up against the injustices of dictatorial political regimes in Pakistan, for bringing about social harmony between Indians and Pakistanis, for better understanding between the Americans and the Muslim world and AIDS awareness around the world. He has used all mediums available to him to achieve his jihad. He chose songs to bring about social change in Pakistan. He used BBC documentary videos for better understanding between the West and Muslim world and music tours to bridge the divide between Indians and Pakistanis.  I saw him and his band in action around the Boston area not only in bringing Muslim Sufi music to American ears but also the many discussions Salman would have with the audiences after the event on socio-political issues. He first started visiting the Boston region with his band performing in schools and colleges around the region. He came to Belmont Hill School and made the prep school boys dressed up in their uniforms dance on the pews in a church at 10 am to the songs of Sain etc. . He then engaged them with discussions about Islam. He has made appearances for raising money for Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital with Imran Khan and raising money for earthquake victims in Pakistan. He even had the PhDs who work at MIT Lincoln Laboratory clapping and singing to the sufi music in an auditorium at the Laboratory.

His social activism and philanthropy was recognized by UN in allowing him to hold a concert in the main UN Assembly Hall in order to raise money for Swat’s displaced people in Pakistan. Many well known musicians and leaders joined him in a packed hall on that eventful night. Some images of that concert can be seen by clicking on the image on the left.

His drive for enhancing women’s rights and stigma attached to AIDS is reflected in the attached Al Vida video. This is dedicated to a woman’s fight against the stigma, discrimination and ignorance towards the stigma, discrimination and ignorance towards people living with HIV & AIDS. She campaigns for access to medical treatment for all. Globally half of the people infected with HIV are women. She represents the human face of millions like her in Asia Pacific who are infected by their husbands.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Salman had paid the price for standing up to tyrants of various types. Ahmad and his band Junoon suffered political censorship in Pakistan during the rule of Benazir Bhutto in 1990s, partly due to a song denouncing political corruption. In 1998 during the rule of Nawaz Sharif, Junoon was again banned in Pakistan, because they protested against the nuclear power tests in India as well as their own country by saying, “Why escalate the arms race when people still need water? Why see our neighbors as enemies when we are so close to each other?”

He went public with his stance against then President Musharraf in his open letter. Full text can be seen here.

“..My support for your father’s govt  was never meant to be taken as a blank check for the state machinery to run amok and start dismantling civil institutions, making deals with crooks and plunderers, treating civil servants like common criminals, kidnapping and killing innocent Pakistanis under the guise of the “war on terror” and illegally spying, torturing and jailing thousands of Pakistanis (which include national heroes, supreme court judges, lawyers, rights activists, house wives and students).”

Ahmad denounced the Pakistani Government’s peace accord with Taliban in 2008 saying that “artists in Pakistan take their inspiration from Sufism, the tolerant and inclusive strain of Islam that is the antithesis of the beliefs of the Taliban. Commenting on the Pakistani government ‘peace agreement’ with Taliban and acceptance of ‘Sharia’ in the Swat Valley, Ahmad said, “The killing of arts and culture in Swat is an ominous sign. It is the first step in the potential Talibanization of more of the country. If you give the Taliban an inch – as Zardari has done – they will take a mile. Ahmad also suggested that, “President Asif Ali Zardari’s ill-conceived appeasement will only embolden the Taliban and may squelch more of Pakistan’s voices of peace just when Pakistanis and the world need to hear them most.”

He takes an unusual amount of time appearing on all media channels and shows in the US explaining the religious and cultural divide that exists between the East and the West, between Muslim countries and the US and the North and South.  He writes about this in his book.

The media storm after 9/11 had created an artificial divide, but I was determined to fight it. My publicist Tracy Mann booked me on radio and television to speak about our U.N. concert and help dispel some common stereotypes about Islam and Muslims. Some of the talking points I used were my own understanding of jihad and suicide. Prophet Muhammad described armed struggle against tyranny and oppression as a lesser jihad. He also warned against the dark whisperings of the nafs (ego) and called the fight against the lower self the greater jihad. The Quran says, “Man was created weak,” and it’s true. The inner jihad is a struggle for self-discovery and is about uncovering our hidden, infinite potentials. It’s about raising oneself up high (as in Iqbal’s poem “Khudi”) and never bringing others down. What the terrorists got wrong was that jihad is about overcoming our human impulses of greed, jealousy, injustice, violence, and inhumanity toward our fellow human beings.

He recently appeared in BBC’s hard talk explaining the many misunderstandings around the word Jihad and more..

Click here to view the embedded video.

I have provided specific examples on how Salman has in the past used his talents to further the causes of peace and harmony. He is an excellent role model for young and old to follow. You can follow Salman by checking out his activities at
www.junoon.com
www.ssgwi.org
twitter@sufisal

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We in the Pakistani American community have been deeply troubled by the attempt by one of its new member to bomb the Time Square. Pakistani American community is a well to do community; as was this perpetrator. Faisal does not fit the typical profile of these kinds of criminals. Before we start talking about putting out the correct responses within our society to stop this in future; we need to learn more about what made Faisal undertake such a mission.

Some of the brute force and shot gun approaches that are being suggested, like aggressive screening of airline passengers alienate the very people that we need to improve the relations between the two countries. I think this is a good opportunity to stress on Pakistani leadership to clean up their act and to provide them assistance in doing it. If they are unwilling to do it, then it is time to tell them “Lead, Follow or Get out of the Way”.

The current approach of firing missiles from 10,000 ft into civilian houses in Pakistan with the associated human carnage only makes it difficult for the Pakistani leadership to do what is right; not only for them but also the rest of the world, and US in particular.

What people like Faisal have proven that the Pakistani American community can no longer be casual about what happens within it. It needs to vigilante to unusual behavior amongst its members that could possibly result in another Faisal. We also need to urge the US government to form a policy in the region that has some chance of successfully stabilizing the region. The current approach of sending too few troops to manage Afghan security only embolden the Taliban. Similarly conducting drone strikes with “collateral damage” is morally reprehensible and only creates more Pakistanis with anti US feelings. You can read more about my views on the subject here.

There is a need for regional approach to that region’s security.

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Pakistan was the first Muslim country to recognize China in 1950 and the third non communist state. Pakistan then voted for a bill concerning the restoration of China’s legitimate rights in the UN. PIA became the first non-communist airline to fly into China in 1964.

All Eggs in One Basket

The real transformation came when USA cut off all spares and other support such as training courses etc. both to India and Pakistan on breakout of 1965 Indo-Pak War. It did not hurt India much as they were mostly dependent on USSR. It had a few US transport twin piston-engine C-118 Packets with a third jet engine specially positioned on top of fuselage. It was specially designed for operations from high altitude airfields such as Leh, after Indo-China War of 1962. (As a POW we flew in one from Calcutta to Nagpur on way to our camp at Jabbalpur. Aircraft was in a rickety dilapidated shape due to poor maintenance).This sudden cutting off of support effected Pakistan very adversely.  PAF very significantly effected as it had all her eggs in one (US ) basket. After partition, PAF had acquired first 60 Sea Fury fighters in1950, then followed by 12 jet Attackers from UK. In addition, for transportation, PAF replaced 8 odd C-47 Dakotas with (110 yes 110 ) British Bristol Freighters. We needed at the most 12 transport aircraft, but our RAF CinC bought 110 of them. We got a raw deal from Britishers in  Attacker and Freighter sales inter alia many others – thanks to RAF CinC and other senior seconded RAF officers. Pakistan could only afford these small numbers with its own honest money. After joining  CENTO and SEATO PAF went whole hog for better US aircraft, acquiring 100 F-86s, 12 F-104s, approx 10 B-57s, 12 or so C-130s, and number of search and rescue helicopters and amphibians.

Mauripur Base in the 50s. Click on it to enlarge.

“These picture shows most of the newly acquired US planes. I was there with my newly raised 16 Squadron ( Motto as suggested by late Group Captain Mahmood (Edu) ‘ tendrust o tenumend  o drusht zee”. As you would observe, the birds are clean without drops. Nur Khan led the fly-past of ninety six clean F86s, taking off from old short 040 runway, climbing to 35,000 feet. From there diving and streaking over city at high speed 1,500 feet high. Luckily no bird hit even though the area was infested with them. Some pilots had very few hours on F86s; No 16 Squadron had then Pilot Officers late Akhtar (Air Commodore, Comdt Staff College) and P/O Riaz (Heli pilot later) who had only 5 hours or so on the type. 96 aircrafts lined up for take off on short 04, at 98 % power crammed up together was not a joke. Recovery was even more remarkable as the runway was not only short but it had at the end a 2 feet high lip of main runway 27 under construction.“

US Embargo Dilemma

Faced with this dilemma due to US embargo, PAF frantically looked around for replacements, but nothing was available soon and within our means. Though most of our top brass including President Ayub Khan, under the influence and over-awed by the West, had to eat the crow and beg China to help. For example, Chinese PM Chou En Lai, with his far sightedness first offered the construction of Karakoram Highway in1962. Pakistan turned it down lest USA got annoyed. Air Marshal Asghar Khan was sent to Peking during the War for immediate procurement of the aircraft and for the Chinese double barreled, very effective, 12.5 mm Ack Ack guns. Chinese PM graciously and promptly agreed to meet our request with the proviso that FM Ayub Khan will have to personally make the request. This he did soon after the war towards end of September. He visited Peking meekishly and very secretly lest USA got peeved.  On advice from our Foreign Office, dominated by Brown Sahibs, Air Marshal Asghar suggested to Chou En Lai that these aircraft may be crated and secretly shipped to Jakarta, and from there to Karachi. Thus giving the impression to West that, just like Indonesian Submarines, these aircraft too have been obtained from there. It was an immature, time consuming and childish proposal.

Premier Chou-En-Lai

“One of the worlds greatest person PM Chou En Lai having exclusive lunch with our Ambassador M Sultan Khan and his wife Abida in the Embassy (Embassy is where Ambassadors live , Chancery is their office which is mistakenly called Embassy ) Occasion being the visit of M Shahabuddin, brother of first Pakistani PM Nazimuddin,( ex Chief Minister of combined Bengal pre-partition. He was a very honest but simple man who left little assets. His wife was living in a small house in some remote Karachi Colony till 1980 when Gen Zia allotted her some decent house.)  Shahabuddin then was probably Speaker of Parliament.”

Chou En Lai immediately shot it down and said that these will be made available at airbase like Hotian. It will be very easy to ferry them across to Pakistan from there. During this meeting Chinese PM enquired from AM as to how long it will take PAF pilots to achieve the necessary proficiency. Asghar Khan replied that our pilots are experienced aviators; they would not take more than 10 to 15 days. Remarkably PM disagreed and said that unlike your planes, these are equipped with metric systems, have configurations different from Western aircraft, and most of all there would be language problems. He thus opined it would require 6 to 8 weeks for transition. And it took that much. To highlight this, it took our pilots nearly one week to understand that switches on panels on right side of cockpit are in fact ‘circuit breakers’ and not switches as these appeared to be.  China provided initially sixty F-6 aircraft along with tanks, arms and ordinance for 3 Army Divisons, large number of AA guns and ammunition etc..

Pakistani Air and Military Attaches with Chinese Military Leaders

And it was done almost free of cost and within days. One point always bothered the Chinese. China following policy of conservation, objected to our scales of ammunition. They said we follow American pattern of firing to frighten where as we should fire to kill. This reminds me, once in 1962 at PAF Naltar attending Ski Course we 5 or 6 Wing Commanders went for Chakor shikar. We fired about two dozen cartridges but could not kill a single bird. Next day one local bearer took 4 cartridges, in the evening he brought 3 chakors and returned one unused cartridge. When we inquired, he said they approach bird behind a colorful shield and fired only after reaching it close,

First batch of PAF pilots reached China in early Oct’65, where they were stationed sixty miles south of Tientsin Harbour. Base facilities were spartan but clean. Accommodation and food was prepared under Muslim requirements. They flew about 10 to 15 missions each on F-6, Chinese built Mig-19 aircraft. As stated earlier, China then made all efforts to conserve. F-6s. They were thus fully covered and protected from sun and dust. They were taken close to beginning of runway; covers were removed at the last moment and mission accomplished from thereon. Protective measures were undertaken immediately after landing. Not a single fault occurred during training of the two batches of six pilots each, except one malfunctioning of a gauge. This was remarkable achievement. Life style was simple. The airfield was about a mile away from the residential area. When one of our pilots had hairline crack of ankle, he was provided with a cycle, otherwise every one walked.

Air Marshal Nur Khan’s Visit

CinC PAF Air Marshal Nur Khan paid two visits to China during my tenure as Air Attache at Peking. The first one was in Nov’65 and second in Dec’67.

AM Nur Khan with Premier Chou En Lai

The above picture was taken during first visit , when he was accompanied by AVM Qadir, Air Cdre Z A Chaudhry, Air Cdre Khawaja Maint, my course mate Grp Capt S H Shah, Grp Capt Khawaja Supply and Group Capt Mustafa. Embassy is represented by Minister Durrani (in grey suit in front row) and First Secy Yunus next to me behind Minister Durrani.  Normally PM Chou En Lai did not meet Military Chiefs, but he had liking for Nur Khan and thus graciously had dinner with him followed by this photograph.

The visit was to review the progress of procurement of aircraft, tanks and other equipment. It also included a visit to the air base where our pilots were undergoing. Aircraft unserviceability was zero, Base workshop produced most of the spare parts themselves despite  the fact that their workshops were not as well equipped as ours, according to Air Cdre Khawaja, ACAS Maint. They were remarkably self sufficient in every thing including food, vegetables, etc.

F-6 Aircraft

Newly Minted F-6s arriving in Pakistan

F-6 had good power weight ratio of 86 %, giving it a lot of kick and maneuverability even at high altitude. But it was not a perfect aircraft. A serious problem faced in these aircraft was turbine buckets melting away or detaching and piercing through the other engine or pipes causing it afire. This was due to poor Russian metallurgy. Engines required change of the turbine buckets after every 100 hours. This was in contrast to an F104 engine requiring Inspection and Replacement if required (IRAN) after 1200 hours. PAF installed British Martin Baker ejection seats amongst many other changes. Maintenance wise F-6 was a labor intensive aircraft when compared to US aircraft. Latter having modular systems which are expensive but efficient. F-6 was not pilot friendly aircraft in an emergency and cost us many lives.

On the whole, however, the F-6 was a great acquisition considering that these were provided promptly at a crucial juncture; when we were against the wall and not being able to fill the requirement from any other source. To top it off these were almost free of cost, thanks to the Chinese government and in particular PM Chou En Lai. They have thus earned our gratitude, goodwill and trust, despite our leader’s penchant for the West.

Multi Faceted Relationship

The efforts put in to developing an exemplary relationship by people of both countries in those days, has paid dividends across the board. We now have collaboration in both civil and defense industries. The Karakoram Highway and Gwadar Port are two mega projects that have the potential to transform the social landscape. While there are many lessons to derive from the experience, there are some that truly stand out.

Lessons To Learn

The first lesson is never to put all our key assets at the mercy of any one country. Despite our experience after 1965 we still tried to buy US F-16s and even paid for many of them, only to see their delivery embargoed and money not returned. In contrast the collaboration on JF-17 and other projects with the Chinese have borne fruit. Becoming self sufficient in essential items is a lesson to learn from the Chinese.

The other important lesson is to lead a simple life style and live within ones means. China when it became independent was in much worse shape than Pakistan. Chinese have shown that by living simply and focusing on important things, with correct priorities, they can achieve wonders. We can better protect our interests and sovereignty if we avoid dependence on aid and learn to stand on our feet. Is it too much to ask?

The author was commissioned in 5^th GD(P) Course in 1949 and has the unique honour of winning the coveted Sword of Honour, Best Pilot Trophy and Ground Subjects Trophy. He later raised and commanded No 16 Squadron (F-86F), two fighter Wings (No 32 Fighter Ground Attack Wing and No 33 Fighter Ground Attack Wing). Served as  the first  Air Attache in Peking China after 1965 war. He commanded two Bases, viz PAF Base Peshawar and PAF Base Dacca. At the latter Base, he was also AOC East Pakistan during 1971. He was appointed as ACAS (Ops) after repatriation as a POW. His last appointment within PAF was as  first Air Officer Commanding, Air Defence Command. Following that, in 1976 he was appointed as the  first DG JS in the newly established JCSC Headquarters.  In 1979 he was inducted in th Federal Cabinet, from where he resigned and retired from PAFin 1982. He is the recipient of the second highest military award, Hilal-e-Juraat.

Editor’s Note: I am thankful to the author for sharing pictures from his personal collection with the public.

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Little did I know when I first posted this that there would be a number of drone strikes and suicide explosions immediately after wards. I know of no nation in the world that willfully allows another nation to attack and kill its citizens, specially when it has the resources to stop it. The current civil and military leadership of Pakistan needs to be held accountable for allowing Pakistani citizens to be killed, on a nearly daily basis, by its people. I had recorded  a talk show on US policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan in April 2009. It discussed the anticipated change in the US policy brought about by the new Obama administration.  

The talk was triggered by a blog by Adil Najam on Pakistaniat. I am vociferously against the use of drones as weapons, for reasons too many to enumerate here.   As it turned out 2009 was by far the worst year for Pakistanis killed by US drones as well as their human equivalent, the suicide bombers. According to Human Security Project Report the number of Pakistanis killed by drones in 2009 alone is SEVEN HUNDRED. I had the opportunity to meet Imran Khan ( the cricketer/politican)  in my recent visit to Pakistan who informed me that 20,000 people have been killed by drone attacks. If these numbers are true, then US is committing a “My Lai every Month” in Pakistan. The only difference is that there are no photographers on the ground to capture the decimated bodies left behind after a hellfire missile explosion.  Unlike My Lai, there are no US service men with the conscience to bring the perpetrator of these crimes to the public notice. I am not sure what the real numbers are; most probably between the two figures. But this is an extraordinary large number of civilians to kill over a very large area with no accountability and no declaration of war. The fact of the matter is that there are no independant journalists allowed in the region. So anyone can come up with figures that are impossible to corroborate. These reports don’t mention people being injured and maimed in an area with little to no medical facilities.  The very fact that you have drones flying over you 24/7 creates a persistant psychological trauma for the people and children of the region.  This is essentially a collective punishment being inflicted on the people of Pakistan.

The unfortunate things is that the change in US policy have mostly been for the worst  since then. The only real shift has been by Pakistan Army in launching operations in South Waziristan. The video is self explanatory, hence this short blog.

One of the nice things in US is that the cable providers are forced to airing local programs created by the citizens of the town that they serve. This allows for the creation of grass root programming which neither the corporations not the government can control. Political Chowder and Policy Watch are two such programs that allowed such heretic ideas presented here to be aired in a number of affiliated public channels across the US. It is people like Joe Briggs who are the unsung heroes for saying what is the right thing, in a nation otherwise kept in the dark by the corporate run media.

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The US embargo on military sales to Pakistan at the outbreak of 1965 Indo-Pak War was received with dismay and disbelief by the PAF, whose combat and training aircraft were totally of US origin. Already starting to get outclassed by more modern aircraft, the F-86Fs, F-104s and B-57s were now plagued by spares support problems that rendered them virtually worthless in the PAF. The C-in-C of the PAF, Air Marshal Nur Khan who had cannily led the force during the war, sensed the criticality of the situation and started an immediate search for suitable aircraft from new sources. Unfortunately for Pakistan, geopolitical realities restricted most available options. Pakistan’s CENTO and SEATO memberships hardly endeared her to the Soviets. The Indians had already made inroads to Moscow and the first shipment of six MiG-21s had made its operational debut during the 1965 War. The Soviets saw India not only as a socialist ideologue that could be helped militarily, but as its influential proxy and mouthpiece in the Non-Aligned Movement. The prospect of Soviets and Pakistanis developing any kind of patron-client linkage, thus, came to be a non-starter.

China, in the throes of the Cultural Revolution, had not shown much interest in developing newer aircraft technologies for the time being. Content with the copy of Soviet-supplied MiG-19s, China mass-produced this single-role fighter in thousands. When Pakistan approached China for military help in 1966, she was only too glad to offer the F-6 as a token of friendship, the initial batch of 60 being free of cost. Though limited in range, speed and weapons payload, PAF inducted the aircraft and assigned it the day interceptor role with a secondary close air support task, which it dutifully went on to perform over the next 36 years.

A Quirky Fighter

The MiG-19 (Mikoyan and Gurevich) was the first supersonic fighter of the Soviet-bloc, making its prototype debut in late 1953; it was contemporaneous with the North American F-100 Super Sabre, the first supersonic fighter of the West. The MiG-19 sported audaciously swept-back wings which, at 55 degrees, were considered the right answer to drag rise during high speed flight, but were also problematic at low speeds due to the lower lift-generating ability of such wings. Designers increased wing thickness to ensure enough lift at low speeds, but more lift meant more drag in another form. Two powerful afterburning RD-9B turbojet engines pushed the aircraft out of this jumble and gave it a respectable status of a transonic fighter which could race through to a top speed of Mach 1.3. A set of three hard-hitting 30-mm cannon and, in later versions, two first-generation K-13 heat-seeking missiles completed the weapons suite as the Soviet bloc’s frontline missile-armed interceptor.1 (PAF modified the aircraft to carry AIM-9B Sidewinder missiles.) The same set of cannon armed with armour-piercing bullets, along with two rocket pods, served a useful secondary close air support role. Pilots discovered that they could manoeuvre the aircraft with abandon as long as their speed was not below 500 kph and, they could effortlessly chase their prey if the speed was not above 1,000 kph. Outside these limits lay severe testing grounds requiring special nerves and lots of muscle.

Ready for War

PAF pilots did not take long to master the quirky complexities of the F-6 at the limits of its flight envelope. They often relished the no-holds-barred dogfights with Mirages and Starfighters which could easily be out-turned, if not out-run, in dissimilar air combat. F-6 pilots boasted of some of the best gunnery and rocketry scores in the PAF. Operationally, the pilots seemed pleased to get so much out of so less, as it were. Maintenance of the aircraft was, however marred by a very low time-between-failure of components, as well as a low time-between-overhaul of the aircraft and engine. This was something that the engineers and technicians were able to overcome only when the PAF set up its own F-6 Rebuild Factory at Kamra in 1980 and, rapid overhauls became possible. At the outbreak of the war, PAF had 90 F-6 on its inventory, but due to these maintenance issues, a mere 48 were available for operations.

The F-6s were distributed amongst Nos 11, 23 and 25 Squadrons, each with 16 aircraft. No 11 Squadron, based at Sargodha, was commanded by Wg Cdr Sikandar M Khan. No 23 Squadron, the first Unit to be equipped with the F-6 in early 1966, was commanded by Wg Cdr S M H Hashmi; it had moved from its parent base Sargodha to the forward base at Risalewala, which formed the first tier of air defence against intruders from the east. No 25 Squadron, commanded by Wg Cdr Sa’ad A Hatmi, was split into two detachments of eight aircraft each, based at Sargodha and Mianwali. At the latter base, the detachment had the somewhat unconvincing task of guarding the ‘back-up’ strike assets including 10 B-57 and 5-odd Mirage IIIE for the all-important phase of Army’s main offensive.

Defending the Skies

Air defence cover in West Pakistan was patchy at best, but at low level it had wide gaps and only 7% of the border had radar coverage. Raid reporting by the few rear-located low level radars was not expected to provide enough reaction time for a ground scramble. Similarly, reporting by mobile observers – which is based on visual or aural information – was likely to cause delays. An expedient solution was to mount combat air patrols over possible enemy ingress routes, round the clock, effort permitting. Wasteful though it was, it was decided to man several points in the air and all fighters were ordered up for this task. F-6 came to be the workhorse for day air defense in the northern region.

The morning of 4 December promised action as the IAF was expected to retaliate in response to PAF’s strikes against some of the Indian airfields the previous evening. The PAF was ready, with fighters continuously patrolling the skies since first light. No 23 Squadron pilots at Risalewala had been tidily scheduled for the day’s proceedings. Around 0930 hrs, as F-6s for the day’s sixth mission were taxiing out of their pens, an air raid warning was sounded. A mission abort was ordered and loudspeakers relayed instructions for everyone to take cover. Flt Lt Javed Latif who was on cockpit standby, started to unstrap from his F-6 for a quick egress. Momentarily glancing out of the pen opening to see what was going on, he was aghast to see a Su-7 diving down straight at his aircraft. “The scary sight of an intake pointing at me is still etched fresh in my memory,” recalls Latif. As he jumped out of his F-6 to take cover, a salvo of rockets landed smack on the pen.3 Still scampering towards a trench, Latif was rattled by cannon fire from the second Su-7 as the bullets landed a few yards away. Then the raid was over as suddenly as it had started, and the AAA died down too, as if heralding an all-clear. Dusting himself and recovering his composure, Latif rushed to his pen to help put out the fire caught by the hessian camouflage covering. Luckily, his F-6 was unharmed except for a few nicks from slivers of falling plaster. “I was seething with anger at having been violated thus, and hurried to strap up again to settle the score,” remembers Latif. Shortly thereafter, a scramble was ordered for the next pair but confusion reigned as the taxi way had been blocked by the F-6s of the previous aborted mission. This led to yet another abort at a critical time but the situation was salvaged when Latif, who was standing by for a later mission, took charge and hit the starter button on his own. Just as he was taxiing out, his crew chief came rushing towards the aircraft, signalling for a switch off as another air raid warning had been notified. “My mind was racing and I had already decided in a split of a second – I was going to take my chances flying and I was not going to repeat the fiasco of the last pair,” Latif recollects. Over-ruling the Air Traffic Control’s somewhat confused recall message, Latif checked if his No 2 was also taxiing out. Hearing no response, he decided to take-off alone. Changing over to the radar frequency, he heard an eager voice wanting to join up as his wingman. It was Flt Lt Riffat Munir on patrol from the fifth mission, whose leader had aborted due to a technical problem. The new partners were only too glad to find themselves as a viable combat entity again. It wasn’t long before the ground radar handed the pair over to ‘Killer Control,’ a cleverly-perched look-out tasked to visually guide the interceptors about the raiders’ position with the help of geographic landmarks. Flt Lt Ahmed Khattak’s confident voice called out that two Su-7s were pulling up for an attack from the north-westerly direction and pointed out their position over the main water tank. After jettisoning their drop tanks and charging their guns, Latif and Riffat confirmed visual contact with both Su-7s. As the attackers approached the airfield, Latif easily positioned behind one of them while Riffat cleared tails. Firing all three of his cannon, Latif waited for some fireworks. Noticing that the aircraft was still flying unharmed, he fired another long burst till all his ammunition was exhausted. Just as he was expecting his quarry to blow up, he felt a huge thud. Thinking that he had been hit by the other Su-7, he broke right and then reversed left but found no one in the rear quarters. Checking for damage, he found that the left missile was not there and the launcher was shattered. The AAA shells bursting in puffs all around the airfield confirmed his suspicion that he had taken a ‘friendly’ hit, but luckily the aircraft was fully under control. Pressing on, he started to look for the escaping Su-7s and within moments, was able to pick one of them trailing a streak of whitish smoke. Convinced that it was the same one he had hit earlier and, assuming it to be crippled, Latif decided to go for the other Su-7. He spotted it straight ahead, flying over the tree tops at a distance of two miles. Engaging afterburners, he closed in for a Sidewinder shot but could not get a lock-on tone. To his dismay, he realised that the missile tone was routed through the circuitry of the left missile which had been shot off. Getting below the Su-7, he fired without a tone nonetheless, half expecting it to connect, if at all it fired. Moments later, he heard Riffat’s excited voice on the radio, “Good shooting, leader, you got him!” Not sure if he had really hit him as he had not seen any explosion, Latif was soon relieved to see the Su-7 roll over inverted and hit the ground.4 Flt Lt Harvinder Singh of Halwara-based No 222 Squadron went down with his aircraft near Rurala Railway Station. Riffat’s chase of the second Su-7 (flown by the mission leader, Sqn Ldr B S Raje) had to be cut short as he was getting low on fuel and his leader was out of ammunition. No 23 Squadron had drawn first blood after an eventful morning that saw Latif doggedly in business after surviving rocket and AAA hits. For his heroics on the ground and in the air, Latif was awarded a Tamgha-i-Jur’at (Medal of Valour).

25 Sqn at Mianwali

Shortly before sunset on the same day, Sakesar radar reported a raid heading towards Mianwali. Sqn Ldr Ehsan and Flg Off Qazi Javed of No 25 Squadron, who were on ‘cockpit standby’ in the hessian-covered pens, started their F-6s and within minutes, were taxiing out for take-off. Just then, Javed reported seeing two Hunters pull up for an attack. Sensing that they had been caught on the ground at the wrong time, Ehsan decided on a hasty take-off and pushed up the throttles to execute a sharp turn on to the runway. Unfortunately, use of excessive power caused him to veer off into the ‘kutcha.’ Stuck in the mud, he became an unwitting spectator as the Hunters delivered their attacks. In the meantime, Javed decided to take-off without his leader. Just as he lined up, he saw the lead Hunter strafing way far to the left of the runway. With half his worries suddenly over, Javed started rolling but danger from the second Hunter remained, as it had all the time to aim carefully and take a hearty shot. Anxious, Javed craned his neck back only to see the Hunter’s cannon blazing at him. “I thought his dive was too shallow and, at the close distance he was, the bullets would overshoot,” Javed recalls his rather masterly prediction. Mercifully, the bullets did land 200 feet ahead and towards the left, so Javed continued his take-off. Once airborne, keeping the Hunter in sight was a problem in the fast-fading light. Speeding at 900 kph, Javed remembered that he had not jettisoned his drop tanks. When he did get rid of them at such a high speed, he induced a porpoise but was somehow able to ride it out. Charging in at 1,100 kph, he had closed in to about a mile and a half, which was just the right range for a Sidewinder shot. He fired his first missile and when he did not see it connect, fired the second one. That too went into the ground. “All this while the Hunter pilot seemed totally oblivious of what was going on and his leader was nowhere in sight, so I gleefully decided to press on for a gun attack,” says Javed. “Since things had been happening too fast, I had forgotten to charge my guns after take-off. Having done that, I first fired with my centre gun till all its ammunition was spent.5 With the Hunter still flying unharmed, I decided to continue firing with the side guns. After a few frustrating bursts, I closed in to about 1,000 ft and fired a real lengthy one. Luckily, the last few bullets of the volley struck the right wing as I noticed a flash. The aircraft pitched up and rolled over to the right. I only learnt of the pilot’s ejection later, as I had to break away to avoid overshooting the out-of-control Hunter.” The aircraft fell about 14 nautical miles north-east of Mianwali. Flg Off Vidyadhar Chati of the Pathankot-based No 27 Squadron, when interrogated about the circumstances of his shooting down, said he suspected he had been brought down by ground fire! Duck shoot it was, over the idyllic Khabbaki Lake, but Chati should have known better where the bullets really came from. Ironically, the pilots of No 27 Squadron who had been declared the ‘Top Guns’ of IAF’s Western Air Command during a gunnery meet prior to the war, had failed to shoot up the conspicuously exposed F-6s on the runway. For the rookie Javed, who was freshly out of operational training on the F-6, remaining cool under fire was a most worthy achievement and he deservedly won a Sitara-i-Jur’at (Star of Valour) for his daring deed. F-6s over Sakesar

The high-powered FPS-20 radar at Sakesar, had received considerable attention f the war. Shortly after mid-day on 5 December, aron was again able to sneak in and attack the rand cannon. Patrolling nearby, over the picturesque Salt Range, were two F-6s of No 25 Squadron flown by Wg Cdr Sa’ad Hatmi and Flt Lt Shahid Raza. They were immediately vectored by the radar towards the exiting Hunters but it was a while before Hatmi spotted the pair. As the Hunters sped away over the hilly terrain, Hatmi wisely decided not to waste his missiles in the unfavourable background clutter. Using his guns instead, he made short work of one of the Hunters which fell 15 miles east of Sakesar. The pilot, Flg Off Kishan Lal Malkani, was killed. Next, Flt Lt Shahid Raza, who had all along kept the second Hunter in sight, closed in and opened fire with his guns which found their mark. The pilot, Flt. Lt Gurdev Singh Rai, who was the leader of the mission had twice visited Sakesar on the previous day, ran out of luck this time. He met his end when his Hunter crashed near the small town of Katha Saghral at the foothills of Salt Range.

On the afternoon of 8 December, two patrolling F-6s of No 23 Squadron flown by Wg Cdr S M H Hashmi and Flt Lt Afzal Jamal Siddiqui were vectored on to two Su-7s, just as they were exiting after attacking Risalewala airfield. Hashmi caught up with one of the pair, about ten miles east of the airfield, and let off a Sidewinder. The missile homed on unmistakably and the Su-7 exploded above the tree-tops; the pilot was not seen to eject. The remains of Flt Lt Ramesh Gulabrao Kadam6 were later discovered around the wreckage near the small town of Khalsapur. Hashmi immediately started looking for the other Su-7 and, to be sure of his No 2’s safety, called out for his position. Afzal replied but the transmission was garbled, which Hashmi interpreted as his No 2 being visual with him and, assumed that he was somewhere in the rear quarters. Just then Hashmi picked contact with the second aircraft and did not think twice before launching a missile. If there was any difference between the similar-looking planforms of the Su-7 and F-6, this was surely one time to have had a closer look. His No 2 was nowhere in sight and his frantic unanswered calls to Afzal seemed to confirm Hashmi’s worst fear. Had he mixed up his quarry in the murky winter haze? Afzal, who was chasing the second Su-7 at high speed and had ended up ahead of his leader, was not able to clearly convey his position on a broken radio. Hashmi, an otherwise unflappable squadron commander, should have known better, for he had been too eager for the second kill which unfortunately ended up as a horrific fatality for his wingman.

On one occasion the F-6 was completely outwitted by a Su-7. Flt Lt S S Malhotra of No 32 Squadron, who was on a photo recce mission over Risalewala on 13 December, spotted a patrolling F-6 and took a pot shot before exiting. It was only later that Malhotra learnt of Flt Lt Ejazuddin’s ejection over his home Base.

F-6s flew a total of 674 day air defence sorties (including 42 sorties over the battle area) which was 40% of PAF’s day air defence effort. Five enemy aircraft were downed during the air defence missions, or a kill rate of 0.74% in the role of an air defence fighter. All interceptions took place after the raiders had released their weapons on their targets, which was a reflection of the inadequacy of the air defence system that had been unable to provide sufficient early warning. The saving grace was the ability of the powerful F-6 to accelerate fast and nab the escaping raiders.

Over the Battlefield

PAF’s concept of air support to the land forces was biased towards direct support (close air support, armed recce and battlefield interdiction), as it was seen to yield immediate results in the ongoing battle. Indirect support in the form of deep interdiction beyond the battlefield was considered an exercise wrought with uncertainties in a short war, as the severance of the supply chain was likely to take some time before it showed its effects on a well-stocked front. The F-6 fitted well into the scheme of direct support as its powerful 3×30-mm cannon were ideal for strafing of convoys and rolling stock during armed recce, while two pods holding 8×57-mm rockets8 each, offered the option of firing a salvo in the midst of an armour concentration.

F-6s found their calling in Shakargarh sector, where the Indians had launched a two-pronged offensive with two infantry divisions along with two armoured brigades, while a third division was deployed in a defensive role. Against this force was Pakistan Army’s beleaguered 8 Infantry Division trying to fight off the massive onslaught, while 8 Armoured Brigade, staunchly but unsuccessfully, tried to launch a belated counter-attack. This sector saw PAF intervening in great force, with the bulk of air support missions flown for 8 Division. F-6s flew all but 9 of their 141 close air support and armed recce sorties9 in this sector but, regrettably, the mission success was very low; almost half the sorties were wasted as no enemy activity was observed in the area of interest. Hazy winter conditions as well as abundance of natural camouflage and dense habitation contributed majorly to the problem. While it must have been very frustrating for the pilots not to find the ‘armor concentrations’ that the tasking orders promised, they more than made up whenever they stumbled upon them.

An exciting situation developed in one of the close air support missions on the morning of 7 December, when four F-6s of No 11 Squadron found themselves vying for airspace with four Su-7s, which also happened to be on a similar mission near akargarh salient. The moment the Su-7s sighted the F-6s pulling , they lit afterburners and started to exit eastwards. At that time the No 2 called that he had been hit by AAA so he was asked by the mission leader, Flt Lt Atiq Sufi, to pair up with No 4 and recover back. Atiq then smartly ordered a split, so that two F-6s were chasing a pair of Su-7s each. “I remember accelerating to 1,100 kph despite the rocket pods which were retained, as I could not afford to take my eyes off the prey to look inside for the selective jettison switches,” says Atiq. He barely managed to arrest his rate of closure and opened fire on his target with the centre gun. “I had expended the ammunition in the centre gun so I switched to the two side guns and continued firing. A well-aimed volley struck right behind the cockpit and the Su-7 rolled over its back,” remembers Atiq. It was later learnt that Sqn Ldr Jiwa Singh, the senior flight commander of Adampur-based No 26 Squadron had gone down with the aircraft, south-west of Samba just over the border. The F-6 deputy leader, Flt Lt Mus’haf Mir also fired at one of the fast-receding Su-7s but it was lucky to have accelerated away, apparently unscathed.

A brief scrap took place between ‘relatives’ of the MiG family on 14 December when three F-6s of No 11 Squadron, which were on an armed recce mission in Shakargarh area, sighted four patrolling MiG-21s. Flt Lt Aamer Sharief manouvred behind one of the trailing aircraft and fired a Sidewinder. The outcome of has remained moot as the engagement took place in enemy-controlled territory and, no further details of the wreckage or pilot status have emerged ever since. PAF lost two F-6s to ground fire during the tactical air support campaign. Flt Lt Wajid Ali Khan of No 11 Squadron was shot down by AAA near Marala Headworks on 7 December; he ejected but ended up as a POW after being picked up by Indian troops which were in the vicinity. The other casualty was Flt Lt Shahid Raza of No 25 Squadron who was shot down by AAA near Shakargarh on 17 December, the last day of the war; he was heard to be ejecting in enemy fate remained unclear. He was awarded a Tamgha-i-Jur’at for devotion to duty, as well as professionalism shown in his earlier Hunter kill.

141 sorties of close air support by the F-6 were a mere 20% of PAF’s daytime tactical air support effort, with the bulk flown by F-86E & F. Considering the eminent suitability of the F-6 for the task, a larger share could have been more advantageous. The F-6 detachment at Mianwali could not help, as it was too far removed from the battle scene; it belatedly flew into Sargodha for air support duties a day before the war ended. Nonetheless, a total of 33 tanks, 42 vehicles and 4 guns were claimed by F-6 pilots in the 80 sorties that were considered successful. It can be seen that this was a useful contribution by the F-6 squadrons to 8 Divisions’s efforts in stemming the offensive in Shakargarh salient.

Report Card

During the 14-day war, the F-6s flew a total of 823 sorties which was 28% of PAF’s overall war effort of 2,919 sorties. For a relatively new weapon system, the F-6 could have achieved an aircraft Utilisation Rate better than the 1.6 sorties per aircraft per day during the war. While it fell short of the planned 2.2 sorties daily, it reflected a cautious conduct of the war, whereby the PAF was held back army’s main offensive which, in the event, never came through.

Besides the individual gallantry awards won by F-6 pilots, Nos 23 and No 25 Squadron were awarded Squadron Colours for distinguished performance during the war. The battle honours are as much a tribute to the F-6 as its spirited pilots, who forged this spartan aircraft into one of PAF’s most robust and dependable war machines.

Bio of A/C Kaiser Tufail:

He has had the opportunity of flying several classic fighters including F-6 (MiG-19), F-7P (MiG-21 variant), F-7PG (MiG-21 double-delta variant), Mirage-5, Mirage F-1E and the venerable F-16 Fighting Falcon. He commanded a fighter squadron, a fighter wing and PAF’s largest fighter Base at Masroor. When out of the cockpit, he found time to pursue literary activities. ‘Great Air Battles of Pakistan Air Force‘, a book written by him, is a manifestation of his interest in aviation history. He also writes for various military journals and newspapers. He retired as an Air Commodore in 2005, after thirty memorable years of service.

Addendum:

by Imran H. Khan

F-6 provided PAF engineers with the first airborne platform that they could experiment with freely. They did so in both the mechanical and electronic areas. Adding the Gondola to increase the flight duration was one of the most visible modifications. Addition of sidewinder was another major weapons upgrade that was an unlikely marriage of US and Chinese technologies.

Chuck Yeager wrote the following about this in his book.

“One of my first jobs there was to help them put U.S. Sidewinders on their Chinese MiGs, which were 1.6 Mach twin-engine airplanes that carried three thirty-millimeter canons. Our government furnished them with the rails for Sidewinders. They bought the missiles and all the checkout equipment that went with them, and it was one helluva interesting experience watching their electricians wiring up American missiles on a Chinese MiG.”

In my brief tenure in the PAF I had the opportunity to install a piece of ECCM equipment on the F-6. What struck me was the lack of process in conducting such a modification on this type of plane, when compared with others.  The plane that I modified was  a flying breadboard with all sorts of modifications. PAF engineers performed some 140 modifications.  Sometimes in our rightful glorification of the pilots who put their lives on the line, we forget the contributions of the technicians and NCOs in keeping these planes flying. I have in all my interactions been impressed by the dedication of the maintenance staff. These modifications led to F-6s playing an active role much later than in other air forces that flew it.  PAF trained over 1,000 fighter pilots and flew over 400,000 sorties on this aircraft. It retired after thirty years of active service  in 2002.  Not bad for a plane that flew originally in 1954.

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With so much to talk about these days, a lot of good opinions get left out there unheard. So lets get them out…right here on Imran’s blog.

I can start with a few leaders…

The word is out that Israel is out to improve its international public image – they think they may be at a tipping point on a permanently negative world view. I wonder what took the world so long (of course Westerners don’t think Eastern or Muslim opinions count). After 32 years of settling occupied territory and countless wars with its neighbors and innumerable Palestinians hounded into generational refugee status and similar numbers killed, Israel now thinks its public image is at stake? It certainly shows the limits of propaganda.

So how do they plan on going about it? For one, deny Gaza and Goldman. Secondly, perform a James Bond style assassination of Hamas official, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai. My comment on the NY Times opinionator, which said American spy agencies have also been given the right to kill American’s overseas if they are suspected of wrong-doing:

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/19/mission-impossible-dubai/

“People seem too steeped in the James Bond mythology that there is a law unto spy agencies that transcends international law, that there is a quid quo pro and real politic that justifies such acts, that national security concerns supplant human rights and due process.

But killing by spy agency decree violates ones basic premise of right and wrong – what’s good for the goose can also be good for the gander. How can we talk to China about human rights violations when we empower our own intelligence agencies to employ such tactics ourselves?”

While we’re on the topic, how about this?

“A genetic study to investigate a connection between the lost tribes of Israel and the Pashtuns of Afghanistan and northern Pakistan will be funded by Israel, according to a report in The Observer.

Israeli anthropologists have claimed that the Pashtuns may be one of the 10 lost tribes of Israel in light of longstanding historical and anecdotal evidence.”

Comments, Mr. Khan?

“That should be easy to verify using the latest genetic mappings… Imran”

Moving on … how about Joe Stack, the software engineer who flew a plane into the Austin IRS office. The Government says it wasn’t terrorism, that it was a crime. The lead candidate for the 2012 Republican nomination, Gov. Pawlenty (I always have difficulty with this name – why not just say Plenty?), says all well meaning Americans should crash (golf clubs) into Federal windows. That’s patriotism, not criminal. What about the Fort Hood shooter? Well, he was a Muslim, so it must be terrorism.

I think Mr. Obama’s had a great first year, but the Conservatives are winning the publicity war. They’ve framed the debate so Mr. Bush looks golden in comparison. Americans want leaders that say they can have unlimited Chinese money without paying for it. Will it work? There’s a great new book that I recommend: The End of Influence: What happens when Other Countries have the Money (Stephen Cohen – he’s written about Pakistan as well).

Speaking about golf clubs, I think Tiger Woods gave a very sincere and moving apology. Some may disagree, but I forgive him. I hope his wife is reading this note.

While we’re on sports, wither Pakistan cricket? India is hard at work rationalizing the elimination of Pakistani players from the IPL but it smacks clearly of over extended rationalizing. They are saying it was purely a business decision, why would any corporation not act in its best interest? However, as we all know so well from experience, the idea of a super-duper blue blooded modern-day enterprise seeking maximum profitability above everything else is but a mirage. The IPL are governed by political and national considerations, just as much as any Western company which profiles its job and promotion candidates mostly to the detriment of qualified minority applicants.

To say it in even more plain terms: the IPL owners exercised their right to say no to these players because they were Pakistani. They made them apply and used their power to humiliate them. This even goes beyond profiling. It is raw, unchecked emotion and a crass calculation that puts politics above game and the hope that it wins them more nationalistic-minded Indian fans.

If the PCB continues to play its game the way it has, to be sure Bangladesh will soon
replace Pakistan among the top 7 playing countries of the world. (A version of this printed in Pakistan’s Daily Times).

India’s recent Freudian slip suggests they are making up for the IPL gaffe:

“In a major goof-up, the Indian government’s Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) issued a full-page ad on the occasion of the National Girl Child Day featuring the photograph of former Pakistan Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Ahmed (2006-2009), along with its national heroes such as cricketers Kapil Dev, Virender Sehwag and classical musician Amjad Ali Khan.”

Speaking of movies, anyone seen Avatar? Here’s an opinion to cloud all first opinions about it (David Brooks of the NY Times):

“This is the oft-repeated story about a manly young adventurer who goes into the wilderness in search of thrills and profit. But, once there, he meets the native people and finds that they are noble and spiritual and pure. And so he emerges as their Messiah, leading them on a righteous crusade against his own rotten civilization. (Read more by Googling David Brooks and Avatar – he calls it a “racial fantasy par excellence).”

I really liked Avatar, although I have heard at least one Pakistani say it was no different from Harry Potter! Personally, I would have preferred the new Sherlock Holmes movie if it had stuck to the original. Read my review on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/notes/izaz-haque/the-non-sherlock-holmes-movie/326256442000

This could go on and on, so let me try to end it here with this…sitting in a parking lot near the Natick mall this afternoon, the car next to me suddenly started alarming. No one was near it at the time. I took a closer look at it. It was a TOYOTA Rav4. It shut itself down after a minute of very loud protestations. There’s still hope for Toyota.

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As a Pakistani American I am most interested in good and strengthening relationship between the two countries. As an inhabitant of the planet I am interested that the two countries can work out their issues without resorting to the use of force, as both the countries are nuclear powers. The sad fact of the matter is that right now US is waging a hot war on Pakistan. It is Pakistan’s weakness and inability to defend itself both from inside and out, that it is letting itself to be bombarded with missiles on a nearly daily basis. Over 300 Hellfire missiles have been fired into the homes of Pakistanis since 2007. Each $58K missile attack kills about fifteen people on the average. Many of these people are children and women. By one estimate, one AlQaida type is killed for every 49 civilians. It is estimated that there maybe upto 10,000 hard core Taliban and AlQaida types in Pakistan. Using this strategy would result in the loss of 500,000 innocents to get rid of them. This is the same failed US strategy in Afghanistan that has alianated the average Afghan. The irony of the matter is that the Government of Pakistan actually provides two bases for the drones to fly out of Pakistan so as to give them longer loitering time over Pakistani villages. The Obama administration has appointed a Special Forces general to chart out the new Af-Pak strategy for the region. Being from special forces, he tends to see solution to most problems as needing the application of even more special forces. So he has asked for more Predator strikes into Pakistan and inserting special forces to go into cities of Pakistan, like Quetta. Agianst this backdrop comes “The Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act of 2009″, or more popularly known as the Kerry-Lugar Bill. I managed to stay awake while reading all the legalize. I took the time to read it and would urge you to read it too at pakistaniat. It is the single most important piece of US-Pakistan document to study as it lays down the foundation of relationship between US and Pakistan for the duration of Obama administration.  We as a planet, are standing a tipping point in history. If we are not extremely careful in how we tiptoe through the next couple of years, there is a real risk of nuclear war between Pakistan and US. Should such a tragic event happen, the inhabitants of the Northern hemisphere of the planet could be inhaling radiating dust for a very long time to come.

Let us analyze the KL Bill against this backdrop of activities. In my opinion the bill lays down the foundation of what the US wants the relationship with Pakistan to be during the Obama administration. There is a fundamental shift in a couple of significant ways. The first is a shift in giving aid directly to civilian organizations for social development. The second is that the monitoring of the money being spent will be done primarily by the US embassy in Islamabad. The third is the certification by Department of State that Pakistani government and security forces are behaving in a manner that achieves the intent of the bill specified in Section 4 Statement of Principles.

The Statement of Principles or the intent of the bill is written very well and if executed properly would be a win win for all parties. It respects the sovereignty of Pakistan in that it aspires to work through the Government of Pakistan. It recognizes the sacrifices made by the people and security forces of Pakistan. It shows US desire to support the rule of law for all Pakistanis and for quality education in all territories of Pakistan. It extends support for people to people engagement that has been neglected for a very long time. It supports greater US aid in many areas of development that are sorely in need of monetary and expertise assistance. It even aspires to involve greater Pakistani American involvement in the process. If the bill had stopped at this point, it would be a bill worthy of support by all the concerned parties.

Unfortunately things start going downhill after that. Depending upon how much you want to read into it, the areas where the money can be spent starts unfolding the real agenda of the bill. It starts talking about enhancing the government’s capability in enforcing human rights. Nothing wrong with that on the surface. Till you take into consideration how the human rights bogey has been selectively used by US in furthering the foreign policy directives in countries around the globe. It begs the question as to who is defined as a human.  These moneys would be used to strengthen National Parliament committees to oversee national defense issues. I have included the exact quote below.

“..support for efforts to strengthen Pakistan’s institutions, including the capacity of the National Parliament of Pakistan, such as enhancing the capacity of committees to oversee government activities, including national security issues,..”

Such a brazen statement implies that they currently do not do it, and are looking for assistance from around the globe. If this is not infringement on sovereignty, then what is. How do you suppose money will be spent for this goal. Bribe the generals. Promote those officers who adhere to our mantra. The tone belies the desire to drive a wedge between the security agencies and the “democratically elected representatives of the people”. The Secretary of State will be asked to certify that

“..the security forces of Pakistan are not materially and substantially subverting the political or judicial processes of Pakistan.”

“.. Govt. of Pakistan is making progress in ceasing support, including by any elements within the Pakistan military or its intelligence agency, to extremist and terrorist groups..”

“..Government of Pakistan is preventing al Qaeda, the Taliban and associated terrorist groups, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, from operating in the territory of Pakistan, including carrying out cross-border attacks into neighboring countries, closing terrorist camps in the FATA, dismantling terrorist bases of operations in other parts of the country, including Quetta and Muridke, and taking action when provided with intelligence about high-level terrorist targets..”

All this implies that Government of Pakistan has been  historically guilty of all this , and is being put on notice to clean up their act. We have the arrogance to dictate that Pakistan do our bidding in its local and foreign affairs according to our definitions. Many of the words are defined in great details in the definitions. But definition of terrorism is glaringly absent.

As a Pakistani American I would like the US government do the following:

1. Not spend any money for improving the education and police forces in Pakistan. This money is the responsibility of the Pakistanis to generate. There are too many home less and destitute american citizens who are more deserving of our tax payer dollars.

2. We should cease Predator attacks on Pakistanis immediately and compensate those who we have harmed.

3. We should get out of Afghanistan and let Pakistani and Turkish security forces under the UN mandate provide the space necessary to raise Afghani Army which would then take over. These countries share ethnic, religious and territorial commonalities with the people of Afghanistan. Both of these countries have the necessary security apparatus to assist and train Afghani Army. They will ensure that Alqaida types will not be able to use the Afghani territory.

4. We should provide nuclear and non nuclear technical assistance to Pakistan for their energy needs.

5. Provide visas conveniently to Pakistani students wanting to come to US universities.

6. Create opportunities for greater people to people contacts.

7. Respect Pakistani visitors and not profile them when they visit US.

As a American Pakistani I would like to see Pakistani Government do the following:

1. Spend enough money to educate all the Pakistani kids. Right now it provides money for only one in forty.

2. Spend enough money to provide security and timely legal recourse to all Pakistani citizens.

3.  Repeal the Blasphemy laws as they are against the founding spirit of Pakistan, against the religions  of Pakistan. Against the constitution of Pakistan.

4. Pakistani security forces should only play the constitutional role  and protect all the Pakistani citizens from all attacks from the air or land.

If both countries conduct themselves morally and do the right things for their citizens, there would be no need for any bloodshed. We should tear the Kerry Lugar bill and replace with a bill which lays a foundation of friendship based on mutual respect and trust.

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