Pakistan is potentially standing at the crossroads. It continues to take on the militants. Indeed, the government has even gone as far as amending the country’s anti-terror laws to provide that all individuals or entities outlawed by the UN now carry the same designation here in this country. And it has, by all accounts, already begun moving towards seizing assets belonging to Hafiz Saeed’s charities: Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation. Yet Washington remains either unconvinced or resoundingly deaf to these positive developments. To be fair, the latter have come rather late in the day; especially considering the political clout and links that JuD has enjoyed in the past. And herein lies the rub, at least for Washington. It is unsure as to whether we are crying wolf once more. Nevertheless, the civilians have taken quite the gamble. Ambulances, hospitals and schools are among those assets that have been placed under lockdown. Given Saeed’s grassroots powerbase, particularly among the poor who view the state as perpetually absent, an angry backlash may be in the offing. This is to say nothing of the steps that his more powerful supporters could take. Bluntly put, all bets are off. And the struggle is real. American scepticism points to the timing of this latest move. Pakistan, after all, is readying to participate in next week’s Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in Paris. The worst-case scenario for Islamabad is to find itself on the list of nations that have been deemed non-compliant with terror financing regulations as set out by FATF; which sets global standards for combating illicit finance. And this distrust is fuelled by those at the Pakistani helm promising the whole of the moon when the heat is on and then delivering nothing when the lights go off; which is often. Quite literally. Thus this week has also seen US mulishness in pushing ahead — alongside Britain, France and Germany — with a motion to have us be effectively grey-listed. Islamabad, for its part, sees New Delhi’s hand in this. But be that as it may, Pakistan needs to keep calm and carry on. For the devil is always in the detail of the follow-through. Meaning that the government must do its best to keep a lid on the usual knee-jerk responses. After all, there was no need for our man at the Interior to warn Washington that any unilateral operations inside our borders would be foolhardy at best. For as we have said before, our compliance with international protocols and commitments on the anti-terror front are in the national interest. Though where we are right to call out the Americans is when they come out and claim that even our military operations are all for show. For this is unhelpful, to say the least. And Washington must also be mindful that such slurs do not go unnoticed at home. Thus there are challenges all round. Yet the priority for both sides is this: how much is Pakistan’s democracy worth? We sincerely hope that the juice will be worth the squeeze. Published in Daily Times, February 15th 2018.