Policymakers sitting in the Pentagon might be excused for planning to go after Al-Qaeda where they think it has its network and thinking of extending the area of operation of drones to the region around Quetta. And as experience shows, they would not be much bothered about the painful consequences Pakistan would have to face. But it is for us at the receiving end to put our foot down and not let the trigger happy US violate our sovereignty; since at the end of the day we would have to carry the burden of an ugly backlash. The drones have already wrought havoc in the country, killing nearly 2000 innocent men, women and children, and spreading insecurity nationwide, while managing to take out only 30-odd suspected Al-Qaeda operatives. The responsibility for this fall-out rests with Musharraf, who always talked of 'Pakistan First, but gave a nod to these aerial incursions by the US in violation of the imperatives of sovereignty, and later with the political government that has, unfortunately, blithely gone along. The government has gained nothing but anger and resentment of the tribal people as well as the rest of the citizenry. The suicide bombings have not left any place in the country safe for life or property - thanks to our ill-advised stance of acquiescence to the US diktat. Not that the Americans have not suffered; hatred for them has become firmly entrenched in the Pakistani mind. The insincere call for winning the hearts and minds of Muslim stands badly exposed. According to The Washington Post, the US has renewed pressure on Pakistan to expand the area where its drones could operate, but Islamabad has turned down the demand. There is need for us to stand firm and under no circumstances succumb to this pressure that the US is wont to exercise time and again to change our mind. Not only that. If the US administration fails to see the patent reality of the murderous consequences of these unmanned aircraft, it must be made to realise, if necessary, by shooting them down. Even the space to manoeuvre that Pakistan has given to the CIA is not justified. Washingtons desperation at putting the blame on some outside force for its miserable failure to contain the resistance in Afghanistan had led it to scapegoat Pakistan and create the phantom of 'Quetta Shura. The talk of patience running out, as opined by a NATO official, must be seen in that context. The Americans should remain in no doubt that future historians would judge their decision-making circles harshly, as they have done in the case of Vietnam. Both the Iraqi and Afghanistan ventures have been dismal failures of the worlds mightiest military force, only reasserting the verdict of history that indomitable urge for freedom cannot be thwarted, whatever the suppression. There is also a lesson for other nations who have usurped the peoples right to live in independence.