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Articles for author: Lt Gen (R) Asad Durrani

August 6, 2022

Lt Gen (R) Asad Durrani

Crime and Punishment– Lt Gen (R) Asad Durrani

Dostoevsky’s epic novel was about the crime of a lone killer. Iqbal, our founding philosopher, however, believes that there could be circumstances under which culpable acts by individuals might be mitigated – but there was no way the Almighty would forgive the sins of a society. Makes sense, of course; because their effects were more devastating. And then, though some huge disasters were triggered by a small number at the helm, the consequences had to be borne almost exclusively by the common man who wasn’t even guilty by association. Overtime, one did understand that when dispensing mass retribution, it might

July 9, 2022

Lt Gen (R) Asad Durrani

Faust Lives On – Lt Gen (R) Asad Durrani

Sometime in 2014, I was invited to take part in a discussion on a crisis in Ukraine. I accepted more out of curiosity: now, who would host a debate about a country, hardly anyone here had heard of; except vaguely in the context of a tank deal! To be honest though, I had a vested interest as well. Stratfor, an American think tank had recently described Ukraine as Russia’s Strategic Depth – and musing over such abstractions was my favourite pastime. SD is a sound concept; all nation-states strive to create one to improve their room for manoeuvre. The best

June 26, 2022

Lt Gen (R) Asad Durrani

The Past comes back to Hound – Lt Gen (R) Asad Durrani

Over the years, you must have heard plenty of philosophical mumbo-jumbo: past is thepresent; no, it’s the future; and that sort of stuff! Having belonged to a calling that’s more about getting on with things – no moaning and groaning; no making of wish lists and no waiting for Godot or the lady luck – one nevertheless was not willing to remain stuck with the past. In fact, I wished the older generation, nostalgically reminiscing over the good old days, moved to the old people’s home while they still could walk. One continues to believe that living in the past

April 6, 2022

Lt Gen (R) Asad Durrani

Conspiracy or Bust (Opinion)

The US is indeed in the business of changing regimes. It can do so by directly invading a country – as it did in Iraq and Afghanistan; with the help of allies, like in Libya; supporting insurgencies – the Syrian example; or through clandestine maneuvers that target a country’s fault lines. Since the environment is not always conducive to the use of overt means, a covert approach is the preferred option. Of course, they take a long time and need to be delicately steered, but spare the cost of a military operation and afford plausible deniability – and escape embarrassment

December 23, 2021

Lt Gen (R) Asad Durrani

Strategy of Inaction – Lt Gen (R) Asad Durrani

If anyone expected that after the OIC Foreign Ministers conference in Islamabad, truckloads of food, blankets and medicines would start rolling into Afghanistan, one obviously had no idea what these circuses are all about.  In any organisation, when taking a decision was becoming inconvenient since it had to be followed up by an action one would rather not take, the matter was best handed over to a committee. If wisely constituted, there was a good chance one would not hear of the troublesome issue anymore. In recent times, this recipe was best served by the Chilcot Commission, constituted to probe

November 29, 2021

Lt Gen (R) Asad Durrani

An Army of Lions (Opinion) – Lt Gen (R) Asad Durrani

“An Army of Lions …led by a sheep will be defeated by an army of sheep led by a lion”. It’s a famous quote with ownership contested across the time and space frontiers—from the old Greece to present-day Ghana. Since it’s about the pivotal role of the leader, uncontested over the ages; its unique status is a given. Archives are overflowing with, and the shelves are creaking under, the literature on leaders and leadership. Never have so many ventured to formulate a set of principles – at times a dozen or more. Some indeed would be common in all the

October 27, 2021

Lt Gen (R) Asad Durrani

Einstein and Bruce – Lt Gen (R) Asad Durrani

Not Bruce Lee, but the Scottish king who after repeated setbacks was inspired by a spider to resume his struggle and liberated his country. Einstein, on the other hand, having experimented all his life, surmised that “doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results was insane”. The US and Pakistan may often have pursued different goals but their armies have one in common: to prove Einstein’s theory of insanity wrong. After losing to the Viet Cong, the American Army came up with probably the first written doctrine to fight insurgents. It highlighted the primacy of soft power

August 31, 2021

Lt Gen (R) Asad Durrani

Betrayal or Self Deception?

“No one ever deceives you; you deceive yourself” – Goethe An article by Sami Sadat, a former three-star general in the now defunct Afghan National Army, was lately doing rounds on social media. Some suspected his credentials; others thought he didn’t look sufficiently weather-beaten to befit his Résumé, and still others were wondering if it was at the King’s College that he learnt to write so well! Some of course commented on the article – but only on its contents. ANA was not created in a vacuum – and not even to serve a military purpose. I was lucky enough

August 23, 2021

Lt Gen (R) Asad Durrani

Getting Afghanistan Right – Notes from Lt Gen (R) Asad Durrani

• My quest started over a half-century ago. • November 1968, driving back to Pakistan, I entered Afghanistan from the West. Between Islam Qila and Herat, I was ambushed by a police posse and persuaded to give their boss a lift. • Learnt the first Lesson about the country on the very first night: Even a favour the Afghans take at the gunpoint. • Drive the next day through the countryside, interspersed by hill ranges and valleys, taught me the second lesson: in Afghanistan, you’re never over the hump – just as one has negotiated one hurdle; there is the

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