Pakistan, the ally from hell

Jeffrey Goldberg and Marc Ambinder put things as they are:

In a country that is home to the harshest variants of Muslim fundamentalism, and to the headquarters of the organizations that espouse these extremist ideologies, including al-Qaeda, the Haqqani network, and Lashkar-e-Taiba (which conducted the devastating terror attacks on Mumbai three years ago that killed nearly 200 civilians), nuclear bombs capable of destroying entire cities are transported in delivery vans on congested and dangerous roads. And Pakistani and American sources say that since the raid on Abbottabad, the Pakistanis have provoked anxiety inside the Pentagon by increasing the pace of these movements. In other words, the Pakistani government is willing to make its nuclear weapons more vulnerable to theft by jihadists simply to hide them from the United States, the country that funds much of its military budget.

The Obama administration appears to be under the deluded impression that continued cooperation with Pakistan is a crucial element in the ongoing war against al-Qaeda-sponsored terrorism around the world – although their relationship, in reality, dwells at a far deeper level of complexity.

Like most self-serving arrangements of this kind, their interests differ greatly, but the disturbing list of infringements and revelations relating to this so-called 'ally' seems to suggest that another name is in order: the poorly-governed country hosted Osama bin Laden, opposes its democratic neighbour, and fosters a 'growing nuclear arsenal'. The ally from hell, indeed.

(Video: Jeffrey Goldberg explains what makes Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal so dangerous)