U.S. Command Throws a Hail Mary Pass in Pakistan.

In the wake of the Benazir Bhutto assassination, American officials aren’t talking much about plans to dramatically boost U.S. military aid and counterinsurgency operations in the wild, tribal areas of Pakistan.

You can’t blame them. If the past is any guide, a $300 million military aid package rolling down the rails in Congress was headed for deep, deep waters, even before the latest eruption of political chaos in Islamabad. [...]

“I think the notion that we need a more comprehensive strategy for the tribal areas is the right one. It was probably overdue,” says Craig Cohen, chief of research on U.S. policy toward Pakistan at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

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