Good News From Pakistan

There's been a shakeup in Pakistan's feared and reprehensible Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI), reports Time's Omar Waraich. Historically, the ISI supported--arguably created--the Taliban (and Al Qaeda) as a counter to India's power in Afghanistan. But the new boss, General Ahmed Shujaa Pasha, seems more pro-American and anti-terrorist--a reflection of his boss's fear that the U.S is sufficiently unhappy about Pakistan's support for the Taliban that we might stop sending truckloads of cash to support Pakistan's military.

It seems there's been a fair amount of quiet arm-twisting going on--CIA Director Michael Hayden recently paid a call--and one can only hope that this change proves more than cosmetic: the Pakistanis always seem to respond to American pressure...and then do nothing. The key to settling the war in Afghanistan lies on the Pakistani side of the border. If General Pasha doesn't put the clamps on the terrorists, we face a near-impossible situation--and Pakistan itself may be threatened by the extremists (although, as Waraich implies, the more likely outcome is yet another military coup).