Tcobb:

Of course Pakistan uses the Haqqani Network as a way to shake down the United States for money. If you were to look at this situation from the perspective of a Pakistani strategist, why not?

A smart Pakistani strategist would know that if the United States is not willing to destroy the Haqqani Network, it is best to sidle up to it. Moreover, since Pakistan has learned that the United States sends massive aid only when there’s trouble in the neighborhood, it is only natural for the Pakistani military to see trouble as a form of rent.

We need to reverse the strategic thinking of Pakistan. Pakistan needs to know that (1) we will destroy our enemies and (2) Pakistan will suffer if it helps our enemies. We will never be in a position to defeat al-Qaeda so long as we let al-Qaeda use Pakistan’s nuclear umbrella to deter the United States.

I do not propose directly attacking Pakistan. However, it is critically important to show Pakistan that its nuclear arsenal simply will not deter us.

John Quincy Adams once argued that an inability or unwillingness to govern people living in a claimed territory effectively deprives a nation’s territorial claim of its legitimacy. Without this highly effective diplomatic argument from John Quincy Adams, General Jackson’s invasion of Florida would have been illegal and the United States would not have annexed Florida. Likewise, if the Pakistani government refuses to assert its authority over its western territory to deny safe haven to al-Qaeda, international recognition of Pakistan’s territorial claims to the Federally Administered Tribal Area and Northwest Frontier Province ought to become null and void.

Many thinkers in the Pakistani military (particularly Lieutenant General Hamid Gul) regard the Haqqani Network as a means to expand Pakistan’s strategic depth against India. It must be made clear to the Pakistani government that any continued support for the Haqqani Network (and al-Qaeda) will effectively narrow Pakistan’s strategic depth.