Pakistani Army commentary

[davidbfpo]

Announced today, the next Chief of Army Staff (COAS) will be Lt Gen Raheel Sharif and the Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee (CJCSC) will be Lt Gen Rashad Mahmood. Taken from:http://dawn.com/news/1058927/pm-meet...cjcsc-expected

FP in the last post thought:

Raheel Sharif....is possibly the safest choice politically for Nawaz Sharif, as Raheel Sharif enjoys a close relationship with one of the prime minister's confidants.

[omarali50]

He appears to have picked the two least aggressive generals for the two jobs. May not be the best decision for an army at war...

[davidbfpo]

He appears to have picked the two least aggressive generals for the two jobs. May not be the best decision for an army at war...

Omarali,

The BBC's slim profile suggests COAS LTG Raheel has been preparing the army for an internal war:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25122054

The Daily Telegraph's comment uses that fatal adjective 'moderate':http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...commander.html

[omarali50]

Hamid Hussain's profiles are a good guide: http://www.brownpundits.com/2013/09/...f-in-pakistan/

Raheel is a gentleman but almost all agree that for a peacetime army, it would make no difference but he is probably not suited to lead an army engaged in a war. I think Raheel himself knows it, but Lieutenant General ® Abdul Qadir may whisper some good words about him in Sharif’s ears.

General Tariq Khan stood out among the candidates but Sharif was probably scared of promoting someone known to be aggressive and headstrong. Good for Sharif, but maybe not so much for the army.
Per army scuttlebutt, he is a good man, but not an aggressive leader. Will do fine if politicians above him take tough decisions and people on the frontlines (corps commander Peshawar, IGFC, SSG chief, etc) are up to the job..but hard to believe that he will make tough decisions on his own.

[davidbfpo]

Attached after light editing are Hamid Hussain's comments on the appointment and the next year.

I have altered my method of saving Hamid's contributions so they will remain available.

[davidbfpo]

Stephen Tankel has a slightly optimistic comment on the new COAS, part of a forthcoming series on 'War on the Rocks' assessing General Kayani's legacy:http://warontherocks.com/2013/12/gen...ouse-in-order/

He'll have his hands full:

The anti-state insurgency has made the security establishment even less likely to part with its pro-state proxies for the time being, not least because they do not attack Pakistan and in some cases provide utility against those militants who do. At the same time, the existence of a militant infrastructure and ongoing support for proxies creates myriad operational and ideational challenges for those seeking to counter the jihadist insurgency.

[carl]

Here is an interesting story about an American gun maker that is pulling out of a contract competition because they are concerned that any guns sold to the Pak Army may be used to slay Americans.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/01/05...with-pakistan/

Every body gets it but the genii inside the beltway. The Pak Army/ISI is the enemy.