Mir Adnan Aziz In the last week of November 1862, the British Commissioner to Rangoon, Captain H.N. Davis, wrote to London: Have since visited the remaining State Prisoners - the very scum of the reduced Asiatic harem; found all corre-ct.The death of the ex-King may be said to have had no effect on the Mahomedan part of the populace of Rangoon, except perhaps for a few fanatics who watch and pray for the final triumph of Islam. A bamboo fence surrounds the grave, and by the time the fence is worn out, the grass will again have properly covered the spot, and no vestige will remain to distinguish where the last of the Great Moghuls rests (in The last Mughal and the clash of civilisation by William Dalr-ymple). Orwell said: Probably, the battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton but the opening battles of all subsequent wars have been lost there. David Cameron of royal blood, an Etonian and Prime Minister at the age of 43, has openly declared Britain is no more a junior partner of the United States. Camerons lou-dmouth logic is to make himself unpredictable hence more important. It is human nature to focus more on somebody unpredictable. Cameron wants to be poles apart from the poli-tical waffling of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Tony Blairs image of being a Bush poodle. The WikiLeaks, reports prepared in connivance with the Northern Alliance (pro-India) Afghan government, lacked substance. In any case, it gave further ammo to the likes of Hamid Karzai, our Presidents brother, who for the umpteenth time called for NATO strikes on Pakistani soil, while Admiral Mullen along with Defence Secretary Robert Gates said at a Pentagon news conference: There have been elements of the ISI that have got relationships with extremist organisations, and we consider that unacceptable. He also demanded of the ISI to strategically shift its focus. David Cameron, obviously on a political high, as most world leaders feel when in India, spoke of his horror at the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. New Delhi and the Indian media directly blamed the ISI and Pakistani authorities for the same within seconds of the attack. Cameron endorsed that view when he said: We cannot tolerate in any sense the idea that this country is allowed to look both ways and is able to promote the export of terror whether to India or Afghanistan or anywhere else in the world. What he conveniently tolerated was the export of terror to Balochistan and the rest of Pakistan and the bloody purge carried out by his hosts of the helpless people of occupied Kashmir. Totally false that his utterance was, the timing was extremely insensitive and callous. Pakistan dragged into an alien war had an extremely tragic air crash in Islamabad, whereas the country was ravaged with rains and floods. It was also akin to belittling the blood of about 3,000 members of the security forces (100 ISI officials included) that laid down their lives and more than 4,000 severely wounded. These figures are apart from the 4,000 civilian casualties along with 9,663 wounded. Other estimates put the figure at 30,000 civilians killed or wounded. There is a bizarrely confounding disconnect somewhere. The military and the politicians own this thankless war, yet many have said and maintained that a change in policy is imperative for the survival of Pakistan. The government and the military owe the people an answer. If not the servile political leadership, General Kayani with an extended tenure owes an answer to the families of those martyred; why their loved ones lost their lives? Merely putting off an ISI delegation visit is not enough. President Asif Zardari made it a point to go to London, more so in the wake of the called off Lt Gen Shuja Pasha-led ISI delegation visit. President Zardari has availed this chance of reiterating his stance of having been always focused and needing no strategic shift in the same. He has also shown his unflinching resolve, despite the odds at home. After all, the colonial mindset sees more glory in seeking alien blessings than tending to a Peshawar to Karachi battered Pakistan. It is imperative the military and civilian establishment respond to Mahatma Camerons (the gleeful Indians are remembering him thus) statements in the same vain. Diplomacy is an art practiced in reciprocity. Let the UK, US and Afghanistan fight their own wars for a change. That Afghanistan is no Waterloo and that global politics does not have playing fields, like Eton never had in Duke Wellingtons time, will be for them a lesson difficult but worth learning. The writer is a freelance writer. Email: miradnanaziz@gmail.com