Witness to Blunder is Colonel (retd) Ashfaq Hussain's account of the Kargil war, but it goes farther than merely dissecting the Kargil crisis. Published in September 2008, it coincides with the passing of a decade since the military operation was initiated on snow-tipped mountains in the winter of 1998-1999.

As a colonel serving the Inter Services Public Relations Directorate (ISPR) at the time, the author recounts his experiences and observations, and relates his perception of the entire debacle as it unfolded. He expresses his findings based on personal interaction with senior commanders, leaders, as well as middle-level and junior officers of the Pakistan Army directly involved in the fierce battles.

An introduction to the norms of high altitude mountain warfare and the human difficulties involved in manning posts and serving at such snow-covered terrain under sub-zero temperatures follows.

Corresponding maps with accounts of the many posts established and occupied by the army offer a fair perspective of what the locations and command structure had actually been like. Information on type and use of weapons, tables bearing details of artillery rounds fired, disparity on each side, and the difficulties in moving and maintaining the field guns to forward and high posts makes informative reading.

Particulars of senior commanders, their appointments and level of involvement is narrated in detail down to the time and location of briefings, including the March 28, 1999 visit by the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and his key officers to the Zakaria post held by the 12 Northern Light Infantry (NLI) regiment '11 kms ahead of the LoC'.

Mentioning the Lahore Declaration between Prime Ministers Sharif and Vajpayee as diplomatic relations thawed for the first time since the nuclear tests of May 1998, the author points to the futility of conceiving an offensive military operation at that particular point in time.

Meanwhile, its extreme secrecy implies that the generals did not see fit to involve the PAF and Navy chiefs, let alone the civil leadership, including the Defense Secretary Lt Gen (Retd) Iftikhar Ali Khan. It is claimed that even Nawaz Sharif was kept completely in the dark and first learned of the situation through a phone call from Vajpayee. It was allegedly that it was only this surprise revelation that forced the generals to formally brief the government. The plan was to surprise the enemy and deprive it of any advantage; however the Indian Army's discovery of troops occupying the posts messed up the strategy.

The author has very fittingly paid tribute to some of the many warriors of the Pakistan Army who remained oblivious to the politics, while serving their country with exemplary valour. The story of Captain Karnal Sher Khan Shaheed that has been narrated in detail for the first time by an established military biographer is a valuable read.
One would, however, have expected a more thorough profile from the writer who has previously authored a celebrated biography titled Faateh Saboona of the Nishan-i-Haider recipient Major Shabbir Sharif Shaheed. Although addressing a serious subject, the writer lives up to his signature humorous and suave expression.
Readers will find certain portions of the book to be particularly interesting. Such as the strange yet brave case of Major Tariq Mahmood's sudden nap while faced with direct intense firing from the enemy who were only a few hundred yards away. Meanwhile the reproduction of a letter from an Indian lieutenant colonel handed over to Pakistan,, along with the body of Captain Imtiaz Malik Shaheed, raises goosebumps and is a tribute to the bond that men in uniform share regardless of the side they are fighting on.

The concluding chapter titled 'The longest day' covers the author's experiences of October 12, 1999 when he was serving in Karachi as Deputy Director of the ISPR. His is an eye-witness account of the day that the prime minister ordered the COAS General Musharraf's flight from Colombo to be refused landing at Karachi's airport.
What followed is no secret, however, the workings of the generals involved and revelations regarding everyone's back-saving tactics which resulted in the swift coup undoubtedly add a new dimension to the story.
A profile of the mysterious Lt Gen Ziauddin Ahmed who was handpicked by Nawaz Sharif as Genl Musharraf's replacement, and minute-by-minute details of events right up to the middle of the night when the COAS addressed a clueless nation makes for exciting reading.

It is the first time Colonel (retd) Ashfaq Hussain has penned a book in English along with its Urdu version which is aptly titled — in sync with his 'Gentlemen' series — Gentlemen Astaghfirullah.
The author clearly declares the Kargil adventure to be a blunder and the title Witness to Blunder is apparently inspired by another book which narrates the story of another such blunder. Witness to Surrender was also authored by an army officer, Brigadier Siddiq Salik, who narrated his experiences as a major in the ISPR while stationed at Dhaka in December 1971.

Witness to Blunder is thankfully a far less gloomy account since the nation was not amputated, nor was the author taken POW.

Witness to Blunder Kargil story
unfolds
By Ashfaq Hussain
Idara Matbuaat-i-Sulemani, Lahore
256pp. Rs330