Pakistan Security Forces not prepared ....(Rumsfeld says go to war with the army you have.)

[Flabbergasted]

PAKISTAN: Suicide Bombings Demoralise Security Forces
By Ashfaq Yusufzai

Credit:US Defence Dept/Air Force Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen

Pakistani Honour Guard

PESHAWAR, Jul 20 (IPS) - A week-long campaign of suicide bombings that killed more than 130 people across Paksitan, has seriously demoralised security personnel in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, that have become a safe haven for the Taliban and the al-Qaeda.

Directed at police and army targets, the bombings are believed to have been carried out to avenge last week’s storming of the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) in Islamabad killing 75 pro-Taliban militants, and also to protest against the support given by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to the ‘war-on-terror’ prosecuted by the United States and NATO in Afghanistan.

After suffering the heaviest casualties ever sustained by Pakistani security forces during peacetime, many security personnel fearing attacks have gone away on long leave or go about their work in plain clothes.

"We are scared to be seen in our uniforms. The militants are better-equipped than we are. And there is no way to stop suicide bombers," a police constable in Swat told IPS. He said the threat was real enough for senior officials to approve the idea of policemen performing their duties in plainclothes.

The North West Frontier Province (NWFP) has a total of 35,000 policemen for a population of 22 million while the Federally Administered Tribal Agency (FATA) has 7,000 ‘khasadar’ (local police) for about four million people. These forces are considered inadequate, although, the NWFP can also call on the services of the 17,000-strong Frontier Constabulary.

About 80,000 regular army troops are also currently deployed along the Pakistan border with Afghanistan to put check cross border movements by militants. But the army is being held back by a ceasefire agreement with tribal leaders in September that the government is keen to keep going.

"Our forces lack proper training, equipment, vehicles and weaponry due to which their preparedness is very low," a high-ranking police official told IPS. He confirmed that hundreds of policemen have applied for leave out of fear for safety.

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38609