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Syed Talat Hussain In the short-term, which is the dominant concern, Washington wants a smooth, bloodless, uncomplicated withdrawal of soldiers and sinews of its $2-trillion war from Afghanistan. It is positioning its air and sea-based resources to remove any hurdle that could subvert the process, but would obviously need Pakistan’s full assurance that it will extend a helping hand (both hands in fact) and commit to dealing with complexities that might pop up. Pakistan is saying “yes”. It wants all lines of withdrawal to stay open and secure through Pakistan’s jurisdiction. Pakistan is saying “sure”.  It also wants the Taliban to behave while it winds up its tent. Pakistan is expected to take the lead in achieving this goal. Pakistan is saying, “trying our best.”  It also wants Pakistan to do intelligence sharing far more deeply than it has done so far. Withdrawal means less intel gathering capacity (other than that capacity that is tech-based). Pakistan is expected to be a sp...

Syed Talat Hussain You can fake many things in life but you can’t fake revolutions. But that is precisely what the Pakistani nation was made to fake on the eve of the fateful elections two years ago. Spurred by the devious script of a country under siege, enabled by carefully-designed and flawlessly-executed national upheavals like Imran and Qadri dharnas and protests by sectarian groups, and fully supported by a courtier media drafted as partner-in-pantomime through spineless seth-owners, a revolution was announced. So arrived Imran Khan with fanfare and frills, riding high, talking loud. Journalists, economists, politicians, and significantly large victims of revolutionary anthems went delirious in ecstasy. Attaboy! What a man! Also arrived with him bundles of justifications as to why the haloed one must be hailed. When the economy was growing at 5.7 % the nation was told that Pakistan was sinking and needed a savior. When the debt was $20 billions less than today, the nation was tol...