Afghanistan and Pakistan

"President Barack Obama said he’s boosting U.S. forces in Afghanistan and increasing aid to Pakistan to “disrupt, dismantle and defeat” al-Qaeda terrorists and other militants in both countries."

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=akz7IbDMKHFY&refer=canada

Good idea.

Unfortunately, "Pakistan's intelligence agency is helping the Taliban to pursue an insurgency in Afghanistan that has seen a 50 percent hike in attacks in some areas this year, the NATO commander here told AFP. The number of foreign fighters, including Europeans, is also increasing here while NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) still lacks the soldiers it needs, US General David D. McKiernan said in a weekend interview. "There certainly is a level of ISI complicity in the militant areas in Pakistan and organisations such as the Taliban," the four-star general said, echoing allegations by Afghan President Hamid Karzai and others."

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iMHMxTwpwFlUzUclt2H_nsCymvSw

How do we fight our enemy to protect our friend while our friend is aiding our enemy? And, if the Macedonian, Roman, Mongolian, Chinese, Russian and British empires were unable to pacify Afghanistan, why do we believe we can?