Even as an intensive US and NATO military offensive against the Taliban is underway in southern Afghanistan, neighbouring states are already considering the Americans as good as gone. The old rivalries are renewed.

The success of the Waziristan offensive, against the backdrop of a serious civil-military division in Pakistan and unresolved debate in Washington, could be critical for the fate of Pakistan which is financially broke and politically paralysed.

The crisis in Pakistan leaves the US with few policy options. Large injections of cash are no alternative to the real issue, which Obama certainly cannot address: the lack of leadership in a country that teeters on the edge of chaos.

'Nobody can forget the cost paid by the country for unity behind Yahya Khan in his war on fellow Pakistanis, for the financial windfall during Zia's agency for the Afghan war, and for the 'revival' of the Kashmir issue through adventurism in Kargil'

Pakistan is at the center of a gathering fire storm engulfing south and central Asia in the most volatile confrontation since 9/11. Pakistan, Afghanistan, the US and NATO all bear heavy responsibility for the crisis.

While enormous public anger and mistrust swells in nuclear-armed Pakistan, Musharraf, long supported by the US, is considered the biggest obstacle to moving the country towards greater stability.

Without greater international pressure to restore normalcy, Pakistan's growing instability is likely to affect the entire region and eventually the safety of nuclear weapons.

Yes, that's Pakistan's only anniversary wish. There cannot be a sustainable fight against extremists who pretend to fight for justice if those called to join the battle are not offered justice themselves.

As unprecedented Taliban violence sweeps across southern Afghanistan, endangering US-Pak alliance, triggering a new Great Game, leaving the four players in the region – Afghanistan, Pakistan, the US and NATO – locked in a tense standoff rather than c

Afghanistan's political system will not succeed without steady and substantial assistance from the international community over the long term.