This article is written from the perspective of an important part of Pakistani society that despises both the Taliban and their sympathetic hosts in Pakistan. Liberals in Pakistan have come to terms with the fact that something is fundamentally wrong with the way the country is governed.  Money quote:

"The military in the past 60 years has been involved in three declared interstate wars resulting in two draws and one humiliating defeat. The military budget surpasses the health and education budgets combined. Our army heads have staged more coups than the armies of other South Asian countries. We should not kid ourselves into believing that the current military operation is under the strict control of the civilian administration. The military as the ultimate arbiter of what constitutes a threat to national security and how to deal with such threats is fraught with dangers. Supporting the military action against the Taliban is not the same as the military deciding when and how to deal with domestic dissent."

Click to Read More ----->

The Taliban is a foreign element in Pakistan that over time has merged with domestic elemtents- creating a genuine Pakistani Taliban.  For a while, this fact was denied- instead, Pakistanis blamed domestic fundamentalist terror on foreign agents (the U.S., Afghanistan, and India).  But Pakistanis are now finally taking responsibility for what is an endemic problem.


Most people want these fundamentalists out of Pakistan.  Many liberals wish that Pakistan had an "Ataturk" to destroy the Islamists and set Pakistan on the path to progressive democracy.  But there is no Ataturk in Pakistan, and the question remains to be answered, either by liberals or by fundamentalists: What does it mean to be Pakistani?