With the PML-N government headed by Mian Nawaz Sharif deadly against drone attacks and for good reasons and the Obama administration bent upon keeping this option open, those at the receiving end – Pakistanis, in particular tribesmen in Fata – continue to face grim prospects. The Friday drone strike coming on the heels of an earlier one, right when Mr Sharif was getting started and trying to give some shape to policies to meet urgent domestic challenges was greatly upsetting not to him alone, but to the public at large as well. In Pakistan, it certainly was not considered an appropriate moment to resort to this weapon. Thus, it provoked angry reaction and Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi summoned US Chargé d’Affaires Richard Hoagland to his office and handed over a strong démarche protesting that these strikes have a ‘negative impact’ on the mutual desire of both countries to forge a cooperative relationship and to ensure peace and stability in the region. Islamabad’s strong condemnation of the drone policy was conveyed to Mr Hoagland, reiterating the patent reality that it was in “violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” and, therefore, must come to an end.
With time and the loss of so many innocent lives, the fact that cannot be kept hidden, the world is fast coming around to the Pakistani point of view. Even American thinkers and analysts are beginning to regard the drone attacks as against the international law. The UN human rights body has clearly and unambiguously pronounced against it. The drones, if they are intended to decimate Al-Qaeda and terrorist groups associated with it, do not serve the purpose; on the contrary, they prove counterproductive, as they ignite the feeling of vengeance among the near ones of the victims and become easy prey to be picked up by militant outfits as their soldiers. Somehow, this logic does not inhibit Washington from using the drones. It seems the superpower is caught up in a perplexing situation where it cannot make out how to proceed, once its over 11-year military campaign in Afghanistan has virtually come to naught. It has not merely failed to root out militancy in that country, but also helped spread the phenomenon to other lands where it was unknown before 9/11. Yet, it has to come to terms with the realities on the ground and the sooner it realises the limits to its power and start building bridges the better. That would also make for the mellowing down of the anger of the people of Pakistan with which it has to keep itself engaged if peace in the region is to be required.