Time for Pakistan
to Down America's 'Bionic Dragons'
"Abandoning the tribal
population to brutal treatment by the U.S. and its destructive airpower would
be a dreadful crime. … The government must lay it on the line that no further U.S.
attacks will be tolerated. If the U.S. still won't listen, the best response
would be to start shooting down the drones."
With four people killed and
many more injured in a drone attack on a residential compound in North Waziristan on
Friday, the U.S. killing spree in our tribal areas continues. So far, over
1,000 people have died in these attacks. When people whose loved ones fall prey
to these sinister war hawks can't seek direct revenge against the United States,
it's obvious that their only recourse is to point their guns at their own
government and people. The deadly suicide attack in Kohat that ripped apart a camp for
the internally displaced killing a large number of people - including women and
children - along with the spate of mass casualty blasts that have rocked Quetta
and Peshawar over the past few days, are grim reminders of how the fallout from
drone attacks is destabilizing the country.
A major cause of these continued attacks is
Islamabad’s failure to decisively convey to the Americans that they won’t be permitted
to impose their will or violate Pakistani sovereignty. In fact, it's no
exaggeration to say that the PPP-led
government is a Janus - with
one face full of tears over what's happening and the other watching the mayhem and
smiling along with the U.S. Indeed, had it not been playing a double game with
its own people, the bloodshed and unrest triggered by the fury of those whose relatives
have been devoured by these bionic dragons would never have occurred.
At this point, Pakistan's peace
and stability are directly linked with these strikes. Even U.S. analysts and
military officials make no bones about their dissatisfaction with the drone
policy. They are of the view - and rightly so - that missiles are counterproductive
and no antidote to the situation in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas [FATA].
But the situation seems almost beyond Islamabad's comprehension. In fact, as recent
events demonstrate, it's trying to match the U.S. by starting its own so-called
bombing campaign of suspected militant hideouts with fighter jets, which is
causing a tremendous amount of collateral damage.
Abandoning the tribal
population to brutal treatment by the U.S. and its destructive airpower would
be a dreadful crime. The PPP has formed a civilian government and so under no
circumstances should be doing so. In order to avoid a backlash among tribesmen,
the government must lay it on the line that no further U.S. attacks will be
tolerated. If the U.S. still won't listen, the best response would be to start
shooting down the drones.
