Quote Originally Posted by Cynicist View Post
The instability of Pakistan is a concern for all because of their nuclear capacity.
The fear of mutually assured destruction and a return to a stone age existence which prevents nuclear war would have little relevance to the “suicide bombing” mentality of the Taliban.
So long as India and China have nuclear capacity, any calls for voluntary disarmament of Pakistan would not fly so the threat of the Taliban taking over Pakistan hardly bears thinking of.
The longer the US and its allies are engaged militarily in Afghanistan, the stronger the Taliban will become and the greater their threat. The US withdrawal from Afghanistan will undoubtedly speed up and the current leak is part of the public preparation for that event (with honour?).
As for Israel, the unsustainable aid flows to Pakistan only serve to maintain the status quo of existing power structures. This reliance on aid creates an apparent accountability by the Pakistan government to the donors rather than to its people and so democracy is undermined. This reliance on aid is humiliating to the common Pakastani and so the hatred to the US &Co grows.

The sooner such aid is stopped or reduced to more reasonable levels the better for all. With a more accountable government reliant on the support of its people through tax and the economy rather than on aid; the country can develop to resist the backward looking Taliban.
I would be afraid that the cut in aid would increase the hostility to the west even if they had withdrawn.People become irrational and volatile when they're under pressure and they would want to blame the west anyway.The Taliban may mellow just enough to accept Iran when it is in both their interests.Anyway I hope you're right instead of me