Season of drones

Until we launch a military operation in North Waziristan, we can expect even more drone attacks in the future.

Soon after Eid, the government summoned a US embassy official to protest a drone strike in North Waziristan on the holy day, making it the eighth time it had done so in the last year. This protest turned out to be as futile as the ones that preceded it, as the US launched yet another drone strike on August 24, killing 18 people. It should now be clear that the government is involved in a charade, as futile complaints to the Americans allow the government to maintain plausible deniability even as it seems that both the civilians and military have resigned themselves to the reality of drone attacks. This muddled policy does a great disservice to the Pakistani people, who have a right to know what their government is doing behind closed doors.

Transparency is even more important now that there is talk of a military offensive in North Waziristan. Drone attacks could actually help provide the troops on the ground with air cover, while eliminating dangerous militants. The problem seems to be that the military is in two minds over whom it will target in North Waziristan. The tribal agency is home to both the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as well as the Haqqani network, which has been a thorn in the side of the US in Afghanistan. Drone strikes have mainly targeted militants who are crossing the border to fight in Afghanistan, while Pakistan sees the TTP as the real threat.

However, the recent death of Mullah Dadullah in a drone strike, who was heading the TTP in Bajaur Agency, indicates some level of cooperation between Pakistani and American intelligence. If so, this would be a welcome development as it suggests that the Americans are now targeting militants wanted by Pakistan. Pakistan has a moral duty to take on the Haqqani network. Our complaints about drone attacks are sure to fall on deaf ears as long as we refuse to tackle the challenge posed by the Haqqanis. The US has run out of patience and until we launch a serious military operation in North Waziristan, we can expect even more drone attacks in the future.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 26^th, 2012.