The views expressed by former ambassadors at a seminar organized by the Quaid-e-Azam Universitys Department of Defence and Strategic Studies at Islamabad on Tuesday must not be dismissed out of hand. These ambassadors, who included Dr Maleeha Lodhi, Rustam Shah, Ayaz Wazir and Qazi Humayun, were unanimous in saying that if the drone attacks did not end Pakistan should block the NATO supply channel to Afghanistan. Behind this statement is not just a concern for Pakistans sovereignty, but also the mounting evidence that they are not yielding the desired results, and are merely killing more Pakistani citizens than Al-Qaeda or Taliban militants. The ambassadors are not mere rabble-rousers without responsibility, but should be recognized as representing either those with a recognized body of achievement before they came to diplomacy, like Dr Lodhi, or those belonging to the affected tribal areas, like Mr Shah and Mr Wazir. As such, their opinion deserves due consideration. Apart from the drone attacks, these ambassadors also pointed out the need to consider the tribal people as citizens. The drone attacks are now particularly galling, after the release of CIA contractor Raymond Davis, and now do not reflect any kind of partnership between Pakistan and the USA, but merely a sort of mindless killing. Also, the only product of the drone attacks will be tribesmen bent on taking revenge for the loss of their near and dear ones. The continuation of the drone attacks at this point, merely adds to the conviction that the extermination of the people is the real target, not so much the elimination of any terrorists. This should serve as another wake-up call to the government, not just to tell the USA bluntly, without any of the circumlocution dictated not so much by diplomacy as a desire to remain on the right side of the USA, that any further drone attacks will be resisted fully, and such incidents as the Dattakhel attack, in which so many participants in a jirga were killed, will no longer be countenanced. The lives of Pakistani citizens must no longer be sacrificed to keep the USA pleased, and thus to keep the government in office. The ambassadors suggestion of stopping NATO supplies to Afghanistan must be implemented, if the drone attacks did not come to end. And even if this means the end of its alliance in the war on terror, the government must not hesitate to give effect to this pertinent suggestion.