The drone attack on a jirga in NWA that was carried out by the US was condemned across the board by our leadership. While it is claimed that these attacks are meant to eliminate terrorists, we are still not sure how many of the of these attacks casualties are civilian and how many are terrorists. The recent attack targeted a civilian gathering which is unacceptable. While the fact that they violate our sovereignty is an issue, the bigger issue is that these drone attacks incite a lot of retaliatory attacks from the terrorists. The people that die in these retaliatory attacks, are they not casualties of these drone attacks too? The Pakistani government needs to press the issue with the US and see if the effectiveness of the drones in eliminating terrorists (if any) is worth the security situation it creates?
KAMIL HASSAAN
Lahore
