Sir: Apparently, Ms Hillary Clinton’s remarks made in India regarding the presence in Pakistan of al Zawahiri, al Qaeda’s current chief, and President Obama’s sudden visit to Afghanistan on the anniversary of the Osama bin Laden (OBL) raid in Abbottabad are linked. The US penchant for unilateralism has not abated yet, despite the disastrous fallout of the war on terror. The US/allied forces have failed to achieve the objectives of the war even after a decade of counterinsurgency, coinciding with an increase in attacks upon security personnel in North Waziristan. This has substantiated the previous US claims of danger the region poses. Thus, in this background, another unilateral action by the US would be justified, which would prove even more detrimental than that carried out for OBL. What, apart from the verbose denials and going on the defensive, have the authorities done to put the speculations to rest? Coming from the US, these accusations ought to be taken as threats as it comes when the US is desperate to share the burden of failure in Afghanistan. If viewed objectively, the past one decade reveals major flaws in the policies in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, coupled with a more potent desire to control through elusiveness rather than bring stability through clarity. The region still lacks the ‘stronger, smarter and more comprehensive strategy’ that the Americans had spoken about, which would have eventually been reliant upon a largely political ending of the war. However, the peace talks between the Taliban and the US are shrouded in mystery and the Afghan government and its security forces are so incompetent that either another Taliban takeover or a prospective civil war are the only predictions that one can make for Afghanistan. In this case, Pakistan will again be the worst affected for sharing a long porous border. Pakistan, however, must wake up to the realisation that it is time to get its act together, where relations with the superpower and its own national interests are concerned. The government needs to increase its control over its own territory and establish its writ all over, along with enhancing its efficiency by an increased cooperation between all its institutions instead of tearing ourselves apart so that all and sundry could point fingers and accuse us whenever they fancy. Only a tightly bound unit in complete control of its own affairs can appear victorious ultimately. AYANNA MALIK Islamabad