The protests that were expected to come after the release of Raymond Davis started immediately after the news broke out on Thursday and protests continued on Friday, in all the major urban centres of Pakistan. It is as yet too early to judge whether the protests will move to further goals, in pursuance of the example of the Arab countries, where two presidents have fallen, and almost every other government has been shaken. However, it is not too early to see that there has been an opportunity for the populace to engage in anti-American protest. That protest gained a redoubled effect from the first drone attack after Davis release, which killed 41 people attending a jirga. There should no longer be any doubt that if Davis had belonged to some other country, there would have been as much desire for his punishment. The governments, both federal and Punjab, may well be congratulating themselves on obtaining US favour by releasing Davis, but they should also be aware that they have not earned the pleasure of the people of Pakistan. The USA has not just exposed itself by the extraordinary support it has shown to one of its citizens, but by the methods it used to force obedience from the Pakistan government, which was willing enough, but feared popular wrath. That is the wrath visible on the streets ever since the release. The protesters have blamed both parties, as well as the military, for the release, a sharing of the blame which struck all those who have ever held power in Pakistan. The religious parties, like the Jamaat-i-Islami and the Sunni Ittehad Council, have taken up this issue, and with the result that the PPP government is able to justify this release as part of the war on terror. It still remains to be explained how the government plans to tackle other Americans like Davis, who are engaged in spying, and who are not in the knowledge of the Pakistani authorities. The protesters have raised this issue, and their concern over this issue should not be neglected by the government. There is no way that Davis can be brought back to Pakistan, but the government can stop the recurrence of such incidents by ending its relationship with the USA, which is said to be so subservient that it has paid the compensation for Davis, thereby saving his parent organisation all sorts of headaches. Such a step would not make it all that much more popular, but it would meet the demands of the people, who are not just tired of being murdered in their own cities, but of being killed in such large numbers in the USAs war on terror.