THE US killing spree in our tribal areas continues, as four more people were killed and many more injured in a drone attack on a residential compound in North Waziristan on Friday. So far over 1,000 people have died in these attacks and it is pretty obvious that while those whose loved ones fall prey to these sinister war hawks could not seek revenge directly against the US, their only recourse is to point their guns towards their own government and people. The deadly suicide hit ripping apart an IDP camp in Kohat killing a large number of people including women and children, coupled with the spate of mass casualty blasts during the past few days that have rocked Quetta and Peshawar, is a grim reminder of how seriously the fallout from the drone attacks is destabilizing the country. A major reason why these strikes continue is because of Islamabads failure to behave in a manner conveying decisively to the Americans that they would not be allowed to impose their will on Pakistan and violate its sovereignty. And in reality, it would be no exaggeration to state that the PPP-led government is a Janus with one face full of tears at what is happening and the other smiling along with the US seeing all this mayhem. Indeed, had it not been playing this double game with its people, the bloodshed and the unrest resulting from the fury of those whose close relatives are devoured by these bionic dragons, would not have occurred. In this point in time, peace and stability in Pakistan is directly linked with these strikes. Even a number of analysts and military personnel in the US make no bones about their dissatisfaction with this policy. They are rightly of the view that missiles are no antidote to the situation in FATA and are only counterproductive. But it seems it is almost impossible for Islamabad to realise this. On the other hand, as events of the recent past show, it is trying to match the US by starting its own so-called campaign of bombing the suspected militant hideouts through fighter jets, which is causing a tremendous amount of collateral damage. Abandoning the tribal population to a most brutal treatment by the US and its destructive airpower would be a dreadful crime. The PPP forms a civilian government and so under no circumstances should it be doing so. In order to avoid the backlash among the tribesmen, which results in retaliatory hits, the government must lay it on the line that no further attacks would be tolerated. And if the US still doesnt listen, the best way would be to start shooting down the drones.