The early morning drone strike in North Waziristan on May 29 which took out Pakistani Taliban's deputy head Wali ur Rehman Mehsud falsifies the propaganda of religious parties that the tribal belt is an island of peace and prosperity and that drones are attacking peaceful citizens. All the drone strikes which have eliminated a number of Pakistani and foreign national Al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders, commanders, mentors and operators prove the point that the tribal belt is infested with militants who are out of the reach of Pakistan's security forces. These militants may be beyond the reach of Pakistani forces because of the difficulty of fighting the enemy in a hostile and inaccessible terrain and because of the political discourse and agreements at the local level. However, if militants who have gathered in the tribal belt from across the globe - Afghans, Uzbeks, Tajiks, Chechens, Arabs etc, - continue to violate Pakistan's sovereignty, then someone has to fill this vacuum. We know that the upcoming governments in Islamabad and Peshawar have vowed to negotiate with the Taliban and stop the drone strikes. Also the Peshawar High Court has told the government to order the Air Force to shoot down any drone violating Pakistan's airspace. Regardless of these vows and pledges, it is certain that as long as militants continue to violate Pakistan's sovereignty by operating on its soil and attacking other countries, the world will take countermeasures to eliminate the imminent danger posed by terrorists. We cannot continue to debate which came first the chicken or the egg. When the militants are disarmed, Pakistani forces take back control of the country's international borders, and foreign terrorists are eliminated from Pakistani soil, drone strikes will stop the same evening. Masood Khan, Jubail
