My friend Ambreen Ali published a good op-ed in yesterday’s Seattle Times. She writes:

“In Pakistan, the last stable source of jobs is the military. Not incidentally, U.S. aid to Pakistan has long focused on strengthening its military might.

“There’s some truth in the American assertion that Pakistan has been an unwilling partner in the Afghanistan war. Pakistanis see their own national needs as having been pushed aside while their U.S.-backed leaders joined a battle on America’s behalf.”

My own comment is that, reading the comments from readers below the article, I’m reminded of the very wide range that exists in levels of awareness, and of the principle I always try to follow of trying to know what I’m talking about before I write anything. It’s depressing to read, for example, the assertion from one reader that “USA did not create the Taliban”. Well … yes and no. Americans can’t excuse ourselves from responsibility for the situation in Pakistan as easily as that. Read Taliban and/or Descent Into Chaos by Ahmed Rashid, and watch the film Charlie Wilson’s War.