AS Brigadier Imtiaz 'Billa' consumes the airwaves one is compelled to acknowledge the truth uttered by David Frost when he described television as an invention that permits one to be entertained in one's living room by people who wouldn't normally be welcomed inside.

The man and the many others who have joined him, either to support his remembrance of things past or contradict them, have kept the nation spellbound.

But the confessions have more than just kept people entranced. They created a mini crisis for the already rocky democratic marriage between the PPP and the PML-N — although tensions have been somewhat defused lately. Allegations and counter-allegations have been exchanged about who benefits or suffers due to various retired army officials' disclosures, brought forth by an attack of the conscience.

Even those who are not party loyalists have found it difficult to control their ire at the dirty games the establishment has played in the past. In short there are few who are not disgusted by the dirty agency laundry being washed in public.

But at the same time there is perverse fun in watching retired military men slug it out on prime time television — to hear them call each other frauds and deceivers or drop hints about the secret misdoings about the other. And then to hear Sheikh Rashid call a green-eyed former spy a liar and what not. It seems as if all of them suffer from the delusion that the muck you throw while defending yourself from allegations sticks but not the sludge aimed at you.

Nonetheless, what a myth-breaker this entire media circus has been. The intelligence agencies have held this nation in their grip. They are everywhere, they listen in on every conversation and whosoever plays a role — however, small or marginal — in the politics of this country, has come face to face with them. Faceless but pervasive, they are the Orwellian big brother and much worse.

Along the way, this is an image that the entire army has acquired. Which, after all, may not be all that bad because it helps it rule this country — in times of dictatorship and democracy. Quite akin to the colonial rule of yesteryears where a small group of men ruled over huge numbers. So what if their numbers were few?

They had superior weapons and of course they were exceptionally skilled at finding local allies (whom they bribed with enticing offers) and even more skilled at dividing those who could have provided the united opposition to have thrown the colonials out. Sound familiar? It should. Some of the tactics being discussed on television would have won the approval of the gora sahibs of days gone by.

If one carries the analogy further, it is instructive to pay attention to the end of colonialism. It is a long story but one which started with the world wars that the colonial powers fought and for which they mobilised huge numbers from the colonies to fight alongside their own armies in theatres that ranged from the deserts of Africa to the jungles of Burma to the rolling hills of Europe.

This proved to be a life- or rather history-changing event for the colonial races. As they fought along the French and the British and, at times, saw their masters getting beaten by the Japanese and the Nazis and the Italians it had quite a psychological effect — the myth of the superiority of the colonial races was shattered.

The close contact dispelled the notion that the Europeans were born with this inherent right to rule and the brown-skinned to be ruled. Historians have argued that this was a major reason for the accelerated momentum of the populist anti-colonial movements at the end of the Second World War.

The bickering we witness on television screens every night as former military colleagues accuse each other of backstabbing, lying and unprofessional conduct might just have a similar impact. It might just make many of us realise that this notion we have of the military being the most disciplined and organised force — so much so that it is inherently capable of ruling and governing — is simply a myth.

Indeed, this storm in a talk-show during a democratic interlude may do what long tenures under dictatorships may not achieve. The vision of retired generals blasting Musharraf for his political decisions and follies does not damage the military's image irreparably. He after all is just one man — and once he leaves the rest can move on, dumping everything at the feet of one man whom everyone has already titled the villain.

But given the irreparable harm that is done when a major sits on television and announces that his orders came from the military high command and his army chief comes on line to not just deny this but also concede that the said major's orders may have been the result of “wheels within wheels”, one is forced to wonder how this makes the army any more competent to rule the country than say the PPP whose representatives rarely ever speak with one voice.If the message from this hit home, the next time the 111 Brigade is told to move, the people might just not celebrate the announcement and welcome the saviours on horseback. And they can do it as long as they remember the confessions of people such as Major Amir and Brigadier Imtiaz. The media, it seems is a great equaliser.