THE prime minister made one of his rare appearances in the National Assembly and spoke about how he intended to tackle spiralling terrorism in the country but, as is his gift alone, he triggered a debate about whether the glass was half full.

When several sources in the governing PML-(N) were saying the prime minister was ready to announce an all-out military campaign to root out the existential threat to the country, after his parliamentary party members voted overwhelmingly for it, Mr Sharif stumped everyone as he once again opted to give dialogue one last chance as he put it.

The prime minister’s speech may have been pre-empted by the Tehreek-i-Taliban’s (TTP) sudden change of heart about negotiations. Having spurned all attempts to talk, the outlawed group suddenly went public with a willingness to come to the table.

Whether the TTP’s change of heart came because of the new army chief’s policy of responding to every attack on his men with massive firepower and fury and talk of an imminent all-out assault on safe havens, or the group merely sought a tactical breather in order to disperse assets and regroup, isn’t clear.

One source suggests that TTP sympathisers with access to the military’s thinking warned the terrorists that this time the khakis meant business and were finally spoiling for a fight and, if it chose to make a stand of it, it would face unprecedented force the like of which it had never witnessed in the past.

Another hint of why a delay of action came when Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan once again said that there were more than a dozen intelligence-gathering entities in the country and they were still not able to share intelligence and information about the terror group’s activities, plans and operations.

One wonders if this aspect has been addressed in the national security policy which the interior minister has had on the drawing board for seven months. It’s said to be ready but this hasn’t manifested itself in the formation of a terrorism intelligence hub such as the earlier proposed National Counter-Terrorism Authority.

Some extremely credible, capable people were said to be in the running to head Nacta and this fact alone spurred optimism it would be effective. However, we have heard nothing further on that. One hopes it hasn’t been shelved and the capacity-building goes on unabated, even though away from the public eye.

There are many suggestions in the media of late that the military is now ready to fight under the soldier’s soldier whose predecessor was more of a thinking man than a doer. But it also has to be acknowledged that under Gen Kayani a huge reorientation of the army happened and a concerted effort was made to retrain it for the challenges it faces in the 21st century. Huge emphasis was also laid on morale through welfare schemes undertaken for the ordinary soldier.

No fight can be won by a demoralised soldier and more so if confusion abounds about the legitimacy of a conflict and its goals. While we endlessly blame the politicians for obfuscation, divisive politics, and with considerable justification, there is still a need to focus attention on the military strategists’ conflicting goals such as those of the ISI’s Counter-Terrorism and Afghanistan Policy wings.

Before any operation is launched there will be a need to harmonise and reconcile the policy goals of not only the two entities mentioned but others as well. Otherwise, the friction and push and pull between them will sound the death knell for any effort. The army, one can be sure, will do this if it hasn’t already done so. It has paid a heavy price in blood in the ongoing conflict.

It is said the ratio of officers killed alongside the other ranks in the counterterrorism fight is one of the highest of any conflict in the world. This is another important factor underpinning morale as the officers are leading their men from the front. These sacrifices have meant considerable anger in the ranks of the young officers, many of whom say they are prepared to inflict a coup de grace on TTP if the government orders them to.

This is the backdrop against which the prime minister’s desire to pursue negotiations with the TTP through a specially formed committee has to be seen. The decision has come in for considerable fire by many — from analysts to politicians who have said that Nawaz Sharif is meek, confused and paralysed by indecision. They say this could lead to a lethal blow against stability in the country and endanger its existence. Those close to the prime minister say this is a deft move by him as it defangs one of his major opponents, Imran Khan who has been forced to give his backing to this effort and the committee includes one of his party men, Rustam Shah Mohmand. Given the TTP’s agenda and toxic ideology there’s little hope it’ll be amenable to eventually laying down arms and accepting the writ of the state.

“We hope it won’t but also know this committee is more likely to fail than succeed. All that Mian Sahib is trying, in his typical manner, is to spread responsibility for all decisions. This is important. The war against terrorism is going to be a long one and may well be fought in many of our cities as well. It’ll require resilience to stay the course. Shared responsibility will help that cause as it’ll remove the blame culture,” said a source familiar with the prime minister’s thinking.

Despite this I can’t say for sure if I see the glass half full. What about you?

The writer is a former editor of Dawn.

abbas.nasir@hotmail.com