The beginning of the end of the U.S.-Pakistan relationship
It seems we’ve propped up Pakistan long enough. It’s no longer a duplicitous ally. Instead, as Islamists have penetrated further and further into its political and military ranks, it’s now becoming an active enemy:
On Thursday, Adm. Mike Mullen told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Pakistan was using ‘violent extremism as an instrument of policy’ and said the Haqqani network, Af-Pak’s deadliest militant outfit, ‘acts as a veritable arm of Pakistan’s Internal Services Intelligence Agency.’ Mullen further explained that Pakistan was using militant proxies to ‘hedge their bets’ in Afghanistan, adding, ‘in reality, they have already lost that bet.’ To be sure, independent analysts and former government officials have been airing such complaints for years. But never in the long, dark history of the Afghan war have serving officials so unequivocally called Pakistan to account for its double game.
You can see the rest here.
This rupture was inevitable. If the U.S.-Pakistan had been bride and groom, they would long ago have been featured in a “Can this marriage be saved” column, along with sage advice that, no, it cannot. An open rift will, of course, impose significant tactical and strategic changes on our military, but I have great faith in our military’s adaptability. And indeed, with Obama at the helm for another 15 or so months, the Pakistan situation may be the least of our military’s problems.