Both the United States and India have failed to appreciate how integral Pakistan's military has become in steering the Pakistani ship. They need to concentrate their efforts on influencing the man behind its wheel: Chief of Army Staff Ashfaq Kayani.

In discussions about the Middle east, it's said that the greatest mistake was the partition of Palestine and the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. That's not my view.

Pakistan lost one of its most forceful leaders and democracy advocates when Benazir Bhutto was assassinated on December 27, 2007,at a campaign rally.

The killing of Benazir Bhutto has made foreign policy issues in the 2008 U.S. election starkly clear.

The country would be richer, safer, more democratic and better regarded without the bomb.

There's a lot that the United States can do when it comes to Pakistan, but none of it can be done quickly. Nor can it be done without facing, as Admiral Mike Mullen did at last, the truth about the Pakistani Army.

The law of unintended consequences is at work again, this time in the crisis between India and Pakistan.

The law of unintended consequences is at work again, this time in the crisis between India and Pakistan.