Pakistan--can US fight war on terror unilaterally?

Here is a link to an interesting op-ed from the Washington Post critiquing the new and improved US policy on Pakistan in order to fight the war on terror that is now being trumpeted by Pres Bush and is close to what Obama is advocating as well. It basically argues that the US (despite it´s frustration with lukewarm Pakistani efforts to combat terror) must continue to cooperate with Pakistan because it is the ONLY way to fight effectively and unilateral US cross-border attacks will likely not significantly disrupt terrorist operations or insurgent groups in the Pakistan-Afghan border region and will increase animosity towards US/West in a volatile region and make future cooperation more elusive. Check it out:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/26/AR2008102601765.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter

You might also want to check stuff written by Fareed Zakaria, a respected scholar and journalist who is a Middle East and Pakistan expert.

Good luck!

Thank you for the article Ms. Garrett!
Keep in mind that Afghanistan keeps strategic relations with the USA because it knows that alone will not be able to achieve a stable situation. Financially speaking, it is more than clear that Afghanistan is not secure, therefore it needs aid and there is no one more capable of giving aid than the US. Further proof is that Afghanistan needed to ask the USA to cooperate in the war against opium poppy production. The delegate of Afghanistan at this stage believes that pride should be left aside for now and so should the concept of national sovereignty. Unfortunately, it has to be admitted that Afghanistan didn’t manage to take care of its own territory and people therefore other nations have the right to intervene because they do indeed have responsibility to protect. Afghanistan is not in the position of accepting or not accepting help, but instead be open to anything that might solve the issue as soon as possible. The Afghan delegate would like to clarify that its position is not submissive but simply realist and recognizing. إله يبارك أنت