Instead of any improvement, the situation is worsening by the day. Pakistan has tried every possible way to resolve the problem. The military option, the political solution, the ceasefire dialogue with local Taliban to lay down their arms and finally the local jirgas to work out a peace plan in Waziristan, Swat and Bajaur. Pakistan has even gone to the extent of doing the required hunting down of Al-Qaeda and Taliban, but in vain. The final attempt to accommodate the US operational plans was to request prior information as a cover to safeguard Pakistan's so-called sovereignty and territorial integrity. No less a person than the president declared publicly, in spite of opposition in Parliament and in the streets at large, that the War On Terror is Pakistan's "own war" and that the Government of Pakistan shall leave no stone unturned to fight this war to the end. But the response from Washington has not been reciprocal, to say the least. Instead a village near Bannu headquarters of an internationally known district of North West Frontier has been subjected to attack by 15 US missiles. Pakistan's COAS visiting NATO's military commander conference made a strong plea that such US missile attacks shall prove counterproductive. He warned without mincing his words that if this US strategy of directly hitting targets inside Pakistan is continued the operational consequence will be adversely affected. The genuine professional advise of General Kiyani has so far not produced any positive results. While the operation Lion Heart continues across the Afghan border in the Bajaur-Kunhar sector, with one acting as 'sledge' and the other as 'hammer', the National Assembly of Pakistan has strongly condemned the drone attacks. A resolution of the Assembly has termed the strike as an insult to the Parliament's resolution recently passed urging the government to take suitable measures to persuade Washington to stop the attacks which are in violation of the international law and UN Charter. No one pays any attention to PM Gilani when he expresses the hope that the new Obama administration shall bring a halt to the US air strikes. It cuts no ice. The US ambassador in Islamabad was summoned to the Foreign Office on Thursday last and protest was lodged over the missile attacks by US spy planes inside Pakistan territory including the latest one on the settled Bannu district. Some opposition members have asked the government to raise this issue at the UN. Lo and behold that the UN Secretary General spokesman has promptly rejected such a proposal by saying that it was none of UN business as it was an issue between the two countries - Pakistan and US. What hope of justice and fair play Pakistan can expect from this august world body. And what justice and fair play can the people of Palestine, Chechnya and Kashmir expect from the UN. No wonder therefore that the oppressed people, denied of their basic human rights, resort to other courses to seek their freedom. Disappointed and dismayed, the government has finally turned towards its friends to persuade Washington to pull Islamabad out of its present predicament and stop the ongoing attacks inside Pakistan's territory. In return, the Pak Army is willing and ready to do the job as a committed ally in the war against terror. Considering the political backlash at home, no offer could be more generous. Even Musharraf never went so far. Under normal circumstances Washington would have grabbed at such an offer. But neither Washington nor Islamabad are facing normal circumstances. The administration in Washington is passing through a critical transition while the administration in Islamabad has not yet settle down because of "one woe falling on another's heal" in the words of Shakespeare. So, where do, we go from here, if Obama does not care to oblige prematurely before January 20, 2009. Shall our so-called friends, which we have turned to, in a position to oblige? Hardly. Can we stand up and stop the US military intervention? Perhaps we can militarily, for a brief period, but at what cost? The best course open to Pakistan, is for the two men on top namely the President Zardari and Nawaz Sharif to evolve a strategy in the best interests of Pakistan, rising above local political differences. There is no other way except a recipe for disaster which we can ill afford at present, surrounded as the nation is by a sea of crises all around. The writer is the president of the Pakistan National Forum E-mail: ikramullah@nation.com.pk