My first instinct when hearing about yet another militant attack is to lash out at the government and accuse it of indifference to the plight of the ordinary citizen while importing bullet-proof Mercedes’ for their own security. Interior Minister Rehman Malik treats empathy like a carrier of swine flu. President Asif Zardari will only feel the effects of terrorism if it ever hits his hometown, but the Taliban is unlikely to expand its operations into Dubai.

But these are purely emotional responses. Even if Rehman Malik’s appearances at the sites of militant attacks were less contrived they would temporarily comfort the nation; they wouldn’t stop the next attack. Zardari may as well live in Dubai and take Bilawal sightseeing to the Oval Office; his presence in Islamabad will not yield any intelligence breakthroughs.

We seek refuge in the myth that we might be safe if only our elected representatives didn’t make such a hash of things. Let’s get real. The government needs to get its public-relations act together and we have to accept the reality that suicide bombings are nearly impossible to stop.

Certainly, improvements need to be made in our intelligence-gathering operations. But even this would only help against high-value targets. If, as reports indicate, it is true that there was advance information that Lahore would be targeted by suicide bombers tonight, then stopping these bombers from entering the main city centre and forcing them to detonate at police checkpoints is the best we can hope for.

And even if security is beefed up at high-value targets, suicide bombers will still be able to cause as much chaos among civilians as they wish. The General Headquarters in Rawalpindi may have been fortified after a shocking security lapse, but is there any way to protect all the National Bank’s in the city?

About the only thing the country’s leadership can do is try and eliminate the Taliban’s leadership and ensure they do not have a safe haven anywhere in the country. The Zardari government has shown far more resolve in doing this than the Musharraf regime ever did. It took decisive action in Swat and hopefully the military operation in South Waziristan will strike a decisive blow against the Taliban.

Until then Rehman Malik should learn to cry on demand and Zardari should consider cancelling his frequent flier programmes.