DESPITE a decade of war, Pakistan stands unprepared for tackling any kind of emergency at state level. Whatever little is seen is of micro-scale and at a micro-level.

Apparently, this poor preparedness has become a source of misery for the already wretched population that has enough of the trauma unleashed upon them by the long war.

The attack on the military base in Peshawar exemplifies that no tangible steps have been taken that may help in diverting such attacks on significant installations. Agreed that the aggressor is at an advantage in such attacks which takes the security forces unawares, but this is not the main point here. Whether an attack was faced bravely or cowardly is irrelevant for the people are well aware of the warring skills of our soldiers.

The real problem, however, is the recurrence of these high-profile attacks. Can they be stopped or avoided? Can we devise a security strategy that may reverse the role to give advantage to our security forces instead?

Many are now raising the question that despite being adjacent to tribal areas and in the presence of tens of thousands of security people, the terrorists could undermine our preparedness.

Prepared we are not, because that is something that we have never focused upon. For us to be prepared we must first accept that things are not in our hand. Then we must have the will to correct the problems and the most important is to develop the ability and courage to alter the present state of dysfunctionality into a state so that we may benefit.

We direly need a change in policies that may also be translated into achievable objectives based on the altering social, economical, political and security situation. We need to break free from the past legacy of hegemonic forces controlling us through imperial laws and policies. We must make our own laws to succeed.

LUBNA UMAR Islamabad