Just ‘Worry’ won’t Do

There is absolutely no guarantee that Pakistan’s nuclear complex will not be overtaken by the Taliban, now set to hit major cities in that country. Therefore, the US is ‘‘worried’’, as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, by the ‘‘worst’’ and ‘‘unthinkable’’ possibility of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal falling into the hands of the Taliban and is pushing Islamabad hard to devise a strategy to regain control of the country. But the US must also ponder as to what has led to the surge of the Taliban in Pakistan, the same force that Washington, post-9/11, vowed to eliminate from the world and for which it went to the extent of threatening Pakistan to either cooperate in the ‘‘war on terror’’ or face the ‘‘Stone Age’’ music. Whether Pakistan has really cooperated or done anything to decimate the Taliban-Al Qaeda formation, it is for the US to tell the world. But today’s situation in that country warrants a different response. Mere ‘‘worry’’ will not do. One would ask the US as to whether it has ever tried to rid the ISI of rogue elements and rein in the spy agency notorious for fomenting terror across the world — and what Washington will now do to secure Pakistan’s nuclear assets. Or, for that matter, can it? THE SENTINEL