Listen to the choir

I am finding myself in good company on Pakistan, where I argued early this month that we need to pick our friends with care even as we target those who are our enemies.  In one form or another, I am finding Ann Wilkens of the Afghan Analyts’ Network (whose paper predates my blog post), Bruce Riedel and Christine Fair–all of whom know more about Pakistan than I will ever know–in agreement.

Their arguments lean in favor of befriending civilians who are truly committed to democracy and willing to build serious democratic institutions while recognizing that elements of the military and intelligence services are our enemies and need at least to be contained if not slapped with sanctions.  Ann Wilkens adds a word in favor of establishing the Durand line as the border with Afghanistan.  Chris Fair goes into detail on the kinds of diplomatic contacts and capacity-building we need to get into while Bruce Riedel, less interested in the civilian potential, is explicit about slashing military aid and moving towards an adversarial, containment-focused relationship with Pakistan’s military.  All favor trade over aid.

It seems to me that the Administration would do well to listen to this chorus of calls for reorienting America’s relationship with Pakistan.  How about announcing a re-assessment of the U.S. relations with Pakistan?  Or convening a wise persons’ review?  The main reason Afghanistan really counts for the United States is Pakistan.  We owe it to the forces fighting there and the civilians trying to build an Afghan state to have a hard look at whether adjustments to our Pakistan policies can make their jobs easier.