I Call This Sanity

The fact that the Obama administration has suspended military aid to Pakistan is a sign that a bit of common sense has emerged in American foreign policy:

The U.S. is withholding about $800 million in military aid to Pakistan over actions by the nuclear- armed country since the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden, said White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley.

“They’ve taken some steps that have given us reason to pause on some of the aid which we’re giving to the military, and we’re trying to work through that,” Daley said yesterday on ABC’s “This Week” program. “Until we get through these difficulties, we’ll hold back some of the money that the American taxpayers have committed to give.”

The problem is that most of the Pakistani state security apparatus, and truth be told, most of the Pakistani body politic has defined itself in terms of a Ragnarok with India, which, given that they are both now nuclear powers, is completely insane.

Once you understand this, it means that any arrangements with Pakistan are the temporary result of a temporary confluence of interests.