Own the War on Terror. This is how the intelligentsia has responded to the Marriott Hotel bombing. The appeal in the argument is that the human suffering being inflicted upon our people by the militants demands that the ownership of America's war be taken now and it is fought with full force. But the argument itself is weak and confusingly circular. First of all, our government is not seen by the people as particularly caring as far as the sufferings of our people go. The extreme insensitivity of Islamabad with regards to the economic problems of masses has already created this perception. And while we are talking about human suffering inflicted by the militants, why not also talk about the human suffering being inflicted by the Pakistani Army on the people living in Pakistan's Tribal Areas. Of the 3.5 million people living in FATA, the majority has suffered tremendously due to operations by the Pakistani security agencies and unilateral strikes by US forces from across the border. 'Owning the War on Terror' means also giving a nod to such operations.   Furthermore, what about the human suffering inflicted upon the Afghan population by the American occupation of that country? Here is the question to ask ourselves; is the human cost of participating in this War on Terror acceptable to us? Is this war, in any way, in our own interest too? -SALAHUDIN AYUBEE, Islamabad, via e-mail, September 22.