The Center Cannot Hold

If we really are moving toward a post-Westphalian campaign in Pakistan, this demonstrates the need for working directly with the sub-national groups to defeat al Qaeda and the Taliban:

The Bush administration has paid Pakistan more than $2 billion without adequate proof that the Pakistani government used the funds for their intended purpose of supporting U.S. counterterrorism efforts, congressional auditors reported yesterday. Their report concluded that more than a third of U.S. funds provided Pakistan since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks were subject to accounting problems, including duplication and possible fraud.

At least if we are hiring and bribing groups within Pakistan directly, we will lose less money to corruption as the funding works it way through the bureaucracies.