The repeated warnings from high- ranking US officials pointing towards Pakistan's tribal areas being at the centre of global terrorism, simply do not jell with reality on the ground.
Recently, the Pakistan military for the first time this year organised a special trip to the Waziristan region in the tribal areas for journalists from different news outfits, including Gulf News.
The objective of this trip was to highlight the challenges on the ground. On the one hand, there is evidence of much destruction caused this year when the military launched its Operation Zalzala (earthquake) which targeted sites known to harbour rebels.
Such locations included a so-called "suicide training nursery" where, according to the military, children from ages nine to fourteen were trained in the art of manufacturing suicide belts and explosives.
Also in the same area was a so-called "indoctrination school" where young boys were trained to embrace the virtues of jihad. The purpose of this training was essentially to ensure that young volunteers became convinced of the cause from an early stage.
But on the other hand, the empty houses across villages such as Spinkai-Roghzai narrated an altogether different story. Being forced to become refugees in their own land is one of the gravest dilemmas.
For months, the inhabitants of this village which borders some of the few patches of lush green farmland, have spent time in a makeshift camp set up by the military.
Returning home
Under a new peace agreement signed between the government of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and tribal militants representing groups such as the Taliban, these refugees may finally have a chance of returning home.
If that happens, the wheat crop waiting to be harvested on the outskirts of villages such as Spinkai-Roghzai may not go to waste and the livestock grazing around may soon find their owners taking charge of them.
The picture seen by the group of journalists in Waziristan this week may well be completely detached from the grand image often portrayed by policymakers in high places. For the US, the battle against militancy and terrorism can simply not be won unless places like Waziristan are cleansed of the presence of militants.
The military commanders on the ground however claim that the battle is already won. "Nothing moves in this area except my troops," said Major General Tariq Khan, the commander of the Waziristan region, in a briefing to the visiting journalists.
He also believes the recent peace agreements do not necessarily have to be followed by a withdrawal of troops from the region.
Instead, the troops would simply move to other locations within the same region to allow inhabitants of local villages to return home. This is central to the next step of consolidating the government's control over the area, to end the present standoff and help people begin rebuilding their lives.
For the United States, the best choice may well be to put together a generous package of economic rehabilitation for Pakistan's tribal areas, essentially to work as an incentive for people to get involved in the economic cycle.
Any armed struggle, no matter where, breeds primarily on public bitterness and anger, compounded further by the lack of economic opportunity. It is quite possible that the militant violence in the tribal areas is linked to the infiltration into that region by hardcore militants linked to groups such as Al Qaida and the Taliban.
But it is also clear that such violence which involves the local population, may not have come with such great intensity if the tribal areas had more economic opportunities. Flying into the tribal areas on a military helicopter this week was indeed an eye-opening experience.
To the far end of the region visible to the naked eye, the ground scattered below was largely composed of rocky mountains and barren terrain, occasionally interspersed with a few fields of vegetation here or there.
It is not surprising that a land with such visibly few economic offerings has also become home to people dedicated to militant causes.
Farhan Bokhari is a Pakistan-based commentator who writes on political and economic matters.
