Why the Taliban Are Winning

Since 2001, the U.S. has funneled billions into Pakistan in an effort to help it put down the Taliban insurgency there, to no avail. Now that the Taliban have set up shop a mere 60 miles from the country's capital, have the Pakistani military and government got the "wake-up call" they need? It's unclear, writes Fareed Zakaria in Newsweek. The military insists on putting the bulk of its troops on the border with India to defend against an attack that no one seriously expects to occur, while the Taliban overtake the western part of the country. In the last week, a major offensive has been launched against the Taliban, but will this conflict follow the pattern in which Pakistan "bombs, declares victory and withdraws—and the jihadists return"? Until Pakistan realizes the error in its sympathies for "freedom fighters" (what we call "terrorists"), the country will remain in a precarious position.