The warning from the departing American commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan General Dan K. McNeill that Pakistan is once more pursuing the failed strategy of trying to strike a deal with militants needs to be heeded. The consequences of the Pakistani approach can be seen in the fact that attacks in eastern Afghanistan were up 50 percent year on year in April. It also threatens to once more create a safe haven for al Qaeda, undoing much of the progress that has been made against the group in the last year or so.

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