The sense of unrealism is widespread.
Pakistan is close to the brink, perhaps not to a meltdown of the government, but to a permanent state of anarchy. We can expect a slow, insidious, long-burning fuse of fear, terror, and paralysis.
American officials are in a concealed state of panic.
The Afghan Taliban of the 1990s have morphed into the Pakistani Taliban and the Central Asian Taliban and it may be only a question of time before we see the Indian Taliban.
The Pakistani army seeks to ensure that a balance of terror and power is maintained with respect to India, and the jihadis are seen as part of this strategy.
Since 2004, practically everything that could go wrong in this war has gone wrong. The Obama administration can provide money and weapons but it cannot recreate the state's will to resist the Taliban and pursue more effective policies.
