My prayer to God is a very short one: 'O Lord, make my enemies look ridiculous!' God has granted it." - Voltaire, French writer and philosopher.

The same could be said about General Pervez Musharraf, who came under a well-planned lethal attack twice within a short span of a fortnight, but he was saved, perhaps because destiny has a role to play.

In case anyone thinks that the president enjoys good protection and has a dedicated team of security around him, he must seek advice to correct his concept regarding the issue under review. People responsible for the president's security were inept at best.

One has seen several theories and conjectures appearing in the press, but it could be claimed with near perfect accuracy that those assigned the job of president's security failed miserably.

Both the prime minister and the interior minister have claimed on the floor of the National Assembly and the Senate that "vital clues have been found" and "the identity of the suicide bombers has been established". There have also been reports of the terrorists' links to a jehadi outfit.

These gentlemen have also announced a hefty prize for anyone who provides information to establish the identity of the suicide bombers; they have in fact tried to insult the intellect of the common man. Anyone can ask that if the identity of the assailants has been established then why the prize money?

Now if we review the case, it would be of interest to find that in the first case when a major part of the bridge was blown up, a very important agency of the federal government had provided a certificate in writing that they had swept the route of the president and that it was clean and safe.

What they meant by safe only they can tell but the letter saved nearly half a dozen jobs that could have been affected due to the serious breach in the security arrangements.

The normal drill that is followed in such cases is that a vehicle of the special branch with its trained spooks and military engineers with their machines check the routes that are to be used by VVIPs and then pass on a signal that everything is okay.
To further strengthen and check for lapses, one or two decoys are also used on the routes that are likely to be used by the VVIPs.

In the first assassination attempt on the president, it was this certificate that was circulated which led other agencies, otherwise duty bound to double-check, become lax resulting in their failure to discharge their duties in the spirit they were expected to work.

As usual, the incident was followed by high-level meetings to take into consideration all the aspects that led to the serious lapse in the arrangement of security for the president.

These 'night gems of wisdom' never bothered to order a thorough search in the surrounding areas in spite of the fact that two areas had been identified as the possible staging ground and hideouts used by the assailants.

This again was a serious lapse that allowed the enemies of Musharraf to strike again and so quickly with devastating accuracy; in the end it was the will of God that prevailed.

Another important aspect that cannot be ignored was the fact that a high-powered committee constituted under the chairmanship of a Lt-Gen to fix responsibility for the first attack was only planning its first meeting when the second attack took place; this is the normal speed at which our government works even in cases of emergency.
Other lesser important officials were nonetheless trying to figure out by collecting whatever evidence they found around the bridge. The delay in the installation of cameras at important positions like bridges also contributed to the failure of the concerned agencies to find clues that could eventually lead them to a breakthrough.
The second attack that demonstrated the skills and more important resourcefulness of the terrorists was a dangerous proposition that must be taken into account by those who have been assigned the job to go after the people involved in the heinous crime.

The second attack has also raised more questions than answers for the government. The most simple and damning fact remains that all the agencies and people responsible for the security of the president were guilty of criminal negligence to say the least.

Now let us see what the people responsible for the security of the president have to say in their defence, i.e., if they have any defence. The police, local boys have no gadgets or proper training for such duties; they assign sepoys on the routes with sticks in their hands and are useful to the extent they do not allow traffic or pedestrians to come on the roads till the cavalcade of the VVIP has passed.
They complain that the army keeps the programme of the president secret and only informs them to deploy police on the expected routes 20 to 30 minutes earlier providing them with little or no time to plan or evolve any strategy for the security of the president.

The provincial special branch comes next, they are specialised force with substantial funds and machines quite capable of providing the best possible security, and they act independently and must take the blame for failure.

Similarly the IB, ISI, MI are equipped with state of the art machines and have some of the brightest minds in the country among their ranks, they were supposed to be a step ahead of the terrorists and other enemies of the country. But the terrorists proved otherwise which casts a serious aspersion on the performance of these organisations, therefore, they also cannot be absolved from the charge of serious failure.

While all these departments must be evaluating their own shortcomings, what was required for immediate improvement, was pruning and streamlining, both the system and personnel. After all it involves a sensitive issue and indifference on the part of anyone, however important should not be an impediment and timely proper action would be a proper tool for improvement.

Pervez Musharraf has said that no one will be dismissed; this was the gesture of a brave man. But after such an incident it was crucial that he looked around himself and beyond and got rid of deadwood or those with suspected loyalties or lacking professionalism so that the enemies of the president and this country never ever could dream of carrying out such an attack in future that may eventually destabilise the country.

Wilde wrote in The Picture of Dorian Gray: "A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies."

This holds true even today, but while suicide bombings or suicide attacks cannot be controlled, what can and must be done is that no suicide bomber ever comes near the president.

So while inquiries continue, what has already been established is in itself a very serious issue and that is the lack of coordination and sharing of information between various intelligence agencies of the country. Better coordination could have saved the face of those who are now trying to shift the blame on others, this will not resolve the underlying issue of failure. All must accept their share of the blame for failure to provide security for the president.

Khalid Latif, a senior police officer while commenting on the attempts on the president's life said, that in case he was Inspector General of Police, there would have been no second attack on the president, at least he could have tested a new strategy to provide nearly foolproof security. His plan, the deployment of four vehicles on the four sides of the president's car each at a distance of 100 to 150 feet away ensuring that these vehicles not only obstructed any attempt by a hostile vehicle to come near the president's car but with trained and dedicated personnel on these vehicles any intruder would have faced determined and effective resistance, but then who listens to such proposals.

Foot Note: An incident relevant to the issue discussed was narrated by Tariq Aziz though in a light vein to friends. Said Aziz, an officer who at one time was posted in Paris, on his return, was appointed, deputy commissioner, DG Khan. One day, he asked the SP if he could find someone who knew the French language as he would like to talk in French with someone. The SP in turn asked one of his minions if he could find anyone who knew French. The next day when the SP came to his office he saw half a dozen people in bandages outside his office. "Who are these people?" the SP asked. The Thanedar replied: "Sir, they have admitted they know French. We are looking for more, as soon as we find them they will be produced before you." So the Maharaja of Punjab has wit, humour and a message for police.