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WEEKLY
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| A deal on drones? |
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Tuesday, November 18, 2008
A report in a US paper states that the present government has struck a deal with the Washington administration, under which drone attacks will be vociferously protested but allowed to continue. In turn, under this agreement, the US will make no comment on these assaults across the frontier, but will not alter its policies. The report suggests that in exchange, no ground action will be conducted by US troops within Pakistani territory.
Certainly, even though it has been described as 'baseless' by the Foreign Office, the account seems plausible. It is also clear that the current government's aggressive offensive against militants has pleased Washington. But given the sensitivities involved and the unanimous resolution in parliament against US intervention, no strategy of deceit can work indefinitely. No government can succeed by fooling its people or attempting to keep them in the dark. The dilemmas we face regarding the war on terror needs to be addressed head on. This is not a battle Pakistan can win unsupported, but the nature of that support is a matter for debate. What is also needed is for people to be taken on board to fight the war, rather than left isolated and confused on the outskirts. At some point, Pakistan's government must consider coming clean with its people, taking them into confidence as to its aims and intentions and involving them fully in the effort. It may find more support than it anticipates for an all-out bid to oust militants as many people in our villages and in our cities seem convinced that there is a need to oust militants from our midst and retrieve the more peaceful existence we seem to have left behind somewhere in the distant past.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
