On a logistical level, the military operation in Malakand cannot be compared to the ongoing offensive in Waziristan. The terrain differs dramatically and Swat is a settled district whereas South Waziristan lies in the tribal belt. Mindsets in a region where livelihoods are earned largely through commerce and farming have little in common with the frontier outlook of tribesmen unfettered by Pakistani law. And there is another key difference. After years of unspeakable suffering, the people of Swat finally turned against the Taliban and wanted nothing less than their eradication by the military. The point to note here is that the Malakand operation was conducted solely by the state’s security apparatus, with no hint of outside involvement, and this probably had a say in swinging public opinion in favour of the offensive.

The mood is different in the case of South Waziristan, partly because of America’s relentless drone attacks in the region. People across the country are now convinced that the battle in Malakand is Pakistan’s own war but that level of support does not extend to operations in Waziristan. The reason: continued American strikes which brazenly violate Pakistan’s territorial sovereignty. That fight is seen by many as America’s war, primarily because of the death and destruction unleashed by US drones.

In his talks on Wednesday with Richard Holbrooke, the US special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani again stressed the negative fallout of American strikes in Fata. ‘Drone attacks … have proved counterproductive and seriously impeded Pakistan’s efforts towards rooting out militancy and terrorism,’ he told the visiting dignitary. The PM is right. American strikes have come in the way of Pakistan taking ownership of the battle in the tribal belt, and given fresh ammunition to elements whose political agenda is more or less limited to stoking anti-US sentiment. Pakistan, as the PM requested, needs real-time intel from the US as well as unmanned aerial vehicles of its own. America’s concern over cross-border infiltration by the Taliban is understandable. But Washington too must realise that it is time to so empower Pakistan that it can do the job on its own.