PRESIDENT Barack Obamas remark on a recent visit to the National Counter-terrorism Centre (NCTC) in Virginia that he could not rule out Al-Qaeda attacking the US in the future recalls the same war hysteria that his predecessor George W. Bush created and kept trumpeting during his two dismal tenures. Bush had the embarrassment of seeing his policies end in utter failure and give rise to worldwide hatred of his country. One would hope that Obama restrains himself from following this course if he wants to make sure that he does not meet a similar fate. His motive in raising the scare of an attack is obviously no different from Bushs: to regain domestic support for an increasingly unpopular war (this time in Afghanistan) by instilling fear in the minds of American citizens that abandoning it or planning an exit at this stage carries a serious security risk for them. He clearly is preparing ground for another surge of troops following General McChrystals alarm bells sounding defeat with the present strength. Obama had better listen to those who would counsel him that to recapture the public standing he enjoyed during the period immediately preceding the election, he would have to mark a clear break with Bushs aggressive stance that he had earlier promised. Unfortunately, he seems to be falling into the neoconservative trap of the previous administration. Pakistan must also be concerned at the ominous implications that another of US Presidents observation at the NCTC carried. He was determined to hunt down Al-Qaeda and its militant allies wherever they were to be found. Read with the 'disclosure of the State Department spokesman that those responsible for the tragedy of 9/11 have reached Pakistan there remains little doubt that Obamas target was Pakistans territory. At least this is one of the countries he feared from where an attack on the US mainland could be planned. We know that Al-Qaeda and its extremist allies threaten us from different corners of the globe - from Pakistan but also from East Africa and Southeast Asia: from Europe and the Gulf, he alerted his people. The drone attacks on FATA have left behind a trail of misery and widespread hatred of the US. Their extension to Balochistan, as it has been talked about lately, would create a huge backlash of public opinion and prove counterproductive to the fight against militancy. The Pakistan government must seriously take up the issue with Washington (the armed forces are reported to have conveyed their strong opposition to the idea to General McChrystal at a recent meeting) and make it clear that neither the government nor the people would tolerate any such US foolhardiness. If the Kerry-Lugar bill is contingent upon this assault on sovereignty, it had better be amended.