19 Jun 2014
The ISIS onslaught in Iraq is being watched by the whole world. For India, many challenges have sprung with 46 nurses trapped in Tikrit that fell to the ISIS and some 40 Indian workers under evacuation from Mosul were kidnapped. Latter are reported safe and possibly held captive somewhere in Northern Iraq.
…to employ our Special Forces to evacuate the Indian nurses from Tikrit and abducted Indian workers.
Presently, some 20,000 Indian expats are reportedly working in Iraq. Media channels in contact with the nurses first reported that they are scared with the situation around but only 14 of the 46 wanted to return to India. This emergency appears over since as per latest inputs the nurses are staying put as the ISIS has contacted them and requested them to do so, promising to also pay them.
As per reports, the nurses have spoken to MEA as well as CM Kerala. Again, the abducted workers are reportedly safe.
As of now fighting between the ISIS and Iraqi forces is continuing some 40 miles away from Baghdad and Iraq has undertaken air strikes on the ISIS. Iraq has officially asked the US for air support but US is dithering for the time being with CIA citing lack of intelligence.
In India, there is considerable strain on the government with relatives of the abducted Indians concerned about their safety and opposition parties capitalizing on the situation to add to the pressure. The MEA has opened a 24 hour helpline and has dispatched Ambassador Suresh Reddy (who had just returned to Delhi having completed his tenure as Ambassador at Baghdad) to Iraq for managing the crisis. The IAF is reportedly on standby for evacuation of Indians from Iraq, which is possible ex Baghdad.
Many calls have been made on the social media to employ our Special Forces to evacuate the Indian nurses from Tikrit and abducted Indian workers. Post the US Seal Team 6 operations to kill Osama bin Laden, our electronic media was agog in speculation whether this raid could have been executed by our Special Forces.
One possible reason why ISIS may not be averse to Indians could be that many of their cadres are from erstwhile Saddam Hussain’s army and India had a permanent military training team in Iraq to train the Iraqi military.
Questioned about it on electronic media, I had said that yes it could have been done by our boys ‘provided’ the nation had the capacity to similarly put our force down in Osama’s compound, which by no means can be construed as simply provisioning of helicopters.
The requirement of intelligence cannot be overemphasized, which may not be 100 percent precise but then must be to an extent where reasonable level of success is guaranteed. In this particular case do we have any actionable intelligence at all? Yes, staging forward of Special Forces to Baghdad is a possibility but whether it can be kept under wraps is questionable with our own media sans any sense of security.
Watch the manner in which the presence of 46 Indian nurses was being publicly announced to the ISIS, an organization that Al Qaeda considers ‘brutal’ and who have no inhibitions about of massacring even Shias as ‘infidels’. In such circumstances, it may be prudent to send one or two Special Forces specialists to Baghdad for necessary liaison, assess the ground situation, gather intelligence and assess possible actions.
It is axiomatic that liaison by MEA, our Embassy and Special Forces operatives will be required at multiple levels – with Iraqi Government, Iraqi military, US, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and even the ISIS. Considering the manner in which the ISIS has reportedly contacted and assured the nurses in Tikrit, it is quite possible that Indians may not come to any harm. No ransom demands have been made perhaps because of the $2 billion booty looted from Mosul banks.
One possible reason why ISIS may not be averse to Indians could be that many of their cadres are from erstwhile Saddam Hussain’s army and India had a permanent military training team in Iraq to train the Iraqi military. The way the situation has developed, it would be prudent to keep contingency plans totally under wraps, for use only if emergencies occur. Premature use of Special Forces could instigate the ISIS to retaliate against the Indian Diaspora in Iraq.
The situation will likely remain fluid for some time but we can learn some lessons here. It is unfortunate that we think of Special Forces only in emergencies like this and continue to relate employment of Special Forces exclusively with direct type of raids. We need to get over this time wrap. The US Special Forces are deployed in some 200 countries including in considerable numbers in India. They are not visible and are not likely to undertake any raids here at least in the foreseeable future. Russia’s Spetznaz has been operating inside Pakistan.
The tasks of Special Forces in modern armies covers the canvas of strategic intelligence, perception management, building partner capabilities, controlling enemy fault-lines, shaping the environment in favour of own country…
The tasks of Special Forces in modern armies covers the canvas of strategic intelligence, perception management, building partner capabilities, controlling enemy fault-lines, shaping the environment in favour of own country and like, over and above direct type of actions, if required. These are politico-military task at the strategic level executed under directions of the highest political authority.
The Chinese Special Forces are spread incognito in development projects globally. These projects are actually being executed by the PLA or through PLA owned companies. In 2012, an Australian Special Forces officer came across a Chinese Special Forces officer deployed incognito with a Chinese development project in an African country. Latter told the Australian that his main tasks included planning and overseeing evacuation of Chinese nationals in the event of an emergency.
Obviously, such tasking would lead to close monitoring of the situation, developing and updating contingency plans, keeping the Chinese government informed and oversee execution of contingency plans (as approved) in case of the emergency occurring. We need to take a cue from this. We may have more emergencies of this nature in future, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The simplistic approach that we already have intelligence operatives in our embassies is foolhardy. Though there has been speculation about a Special Forces Command being set up, what we need is employment of Special Forces at the strategic level covering all our areas of strategic interests, which is not a game of numbers. The policy makers may wish to examine recommendations in the book ‘India’s Special Forces’, which is available online or through its publisher in Delhi.
In the above context, it is also prudent to review the deployment of our Defence and Military Attaches, neglected over the last decade. Despite the importance of the Middle East and the India Diaspora in these countries, we failed to reopen the Defence Wing in our Embassy at Iraq after the US invasion of that country. Prior to that, we had excellent rapport with the Iraqi Military because of not only the Defence Wing but also the Indian Military Training Team stationed in Iraq for years. We can only blame ourselves for such idiocies – again the game of numbers?
During the 26/11 Mumbai terrorists attack, the continued blabber of our media helped handlers of the terrorists in Pakistan to progress the operation further.
In the First International Conference on Terrorism held at Baghdad on 12-13 this year, the camaraderie between the Chinese Defence Attaché and his deputy with Iraqi military officials was palpable. We can understand the nuances only if we don’t construe this as a reflection on the performance of our diplomats including why they cannot handle what the Defence Attaché would do. If latter was the case, then we don’t need the Defence Attaché in Kabul either. Concurrently, our Defence Attache to Afghanistan is Kabul bound and cannot move around while Special Forces operatives working incognito would not be under such constraints. Llatter could provide invaluable inputs for understanding the ground situation.
The relatives of the abducted Indian workers from Mosul have appealed to the government to get them back. Similar appeals were raised post the abduction of Alexis Prem Kumar recently from Herat. Apparently, these individuals did not go abroad with concurrence or even intimation to GoI. Once abroad it is unclear whether they contact our Embassy in situ. Many expats go through touts after paying hefty sums and their employers abroad take away their passports.
There are horror stories in circulation including one where the individual paid Rs 80,000/- for a job abroad on a promise of a monthly pay of $40,000, not paid for months and finally landed up working in a US base at $50 a day. Although there are expat blogs to locate individuals, some system needs to be worked out to tackle this issue. The touts should be purged ruthlessly for human trafficking.
It should be incumbent on the kin of the expat to inform the nearest administrative authority, furnishing full details of the family member gone abroad. Our Embassies perhaps could have an arrangement vide which details of every Indian entering the country be made available to them by officials at the point of entry through their Government / Foreign Liaison Cell.
The Government needs to focus on the issue seriously. Free speech should not imply that you put national security and human lives at stake.
Post the Parliament attack, our media kept on graphically describing the layout and inside of the Parliament including which minister sits where without realizing this would only help terrorists plan better for a future attack.
During the 26/11 Mumbai terrorists attack, the continued blabber of our media helped handlers of the terrorists in Pakistan to progress the operation further. Similarly the terrorists received information where and what time frame the reaction forces have arrived and where they are on minute to minute basis, allowing them time to sleep and execute those trapped at will.
In the instant case, God has been merciful that the ISIS has taken kindly to the nurses otherwise openly publicizing their presence could have led to their abduction, torture, rape or killing. Post the 9/11 attack on Twin Towers, the US media was not permitted within a five kilometer radius for many days. The Government needs to focus on the issue seriously. Free speech should not imply that you put national security and human lives at stake.
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