President Obama\u2019s strategy of offering Pakistan a partnership to defeat the insurgency here calls for a virtual remaking of this nation\u2019s institutions and even of the national psyche, an ambitious agenda that Pakistan\u2019s politicians and people appear unprepared to take up.<\/p>\n
Officially, Pakistan\u2019s government welcomed Mr. Obama\u2019s strategy, with its hefty infusions of American money, hailing it as a \u201cpositive change.\u201d\u009d But as the Obama administration tries to bring Pakistanis to its side, large parts of the public, the political class and the military have brushed off the plan, rebuffing the idea that the threat from Al Qaeda and the Taliban, which Washington calls a common enemy, is so urgent.<\/p>\n
Some, including the army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, and the president, Asif Ali Zardari, may be coming around. But for the military, at least, India remains priority No. 1, as it has for the 61 years of Pakistan\u2019s existence.<\/p>\n