Brave, courageous and tradition-bound inhabitants of FATA are now a day under heavy clouds of uncertainly. They are victims of time, or shall we say, government policy. They have a long history of sacrifices and have always stood for the motherland to face many challenges of the past. Military operation in FATA is misunderstood by most of us, as its actual spirit has not been revealed to the common citizen. How could Army be employed against its own people? It is a well known fact that the proud Pathans in the ranks of the Army are its backbone. We need to be clear about what we want from FATA? Are we interested in merely throwing out the foreign elements living there illegally? Or we want support of coalition forces in the War on Terrorism? Do we want peace in the area and a secure border with Afghanistan? Once we decide what we want to do then government will be able to take measures according to the decided aim. The million-dollar question is that who will make that decision? -SHAFQAT SULTAN, Islamabad, via e-mail, April 17.