The previous government had, virtually, closed its eyes to rising militancy in the tribal belt, Swat and other areas of NWFP. The result is that militants have made a place for themselves in the hearts of many people deprived of social justice that see no hope in government institutions. Eliminating militancy, which has mutated into terrorism now, is not an easy job, thanks to those who let it foster to this stage. The only way out of this quagmire is to take the civil society on board, launch an aggressive campaign from the pulpits of our mosques, the pages of our newspapers and the screens of our televisions. The important point here is to not just target the terrorists but also fight the US stupidity because of which we are in this muck. This will make the campaign more purposeful and popular. The US and its cohorts made Pakistan a laboratory for bizarre experiments in the early eighties and, then, having achieved their objectives, left us out in the cold like a used napkin. We are as much a victim of US as the terrorists, both of whom are guilty of crimes against humanity. -WG CDR (Retd) FARDAD ALI SHAH, Chitral, via e-mail, September 27.