President George W. Bush’s White House dinner in late September with Afghan president Hamid Karzai and Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf produced a carefully worded statement promising greater cooperation between the two visitors in curbing the Taliban attacks that threaten Afghanistan’s emergence as a viable state. Karzai’s and Musharraf’s strained relationship was clear. Pakistan’s September 5 agreement with the tribal residents of North Waziristan—the dominant item on the agenda—has played to mixed reviews, with some viewing the deal as a shrewd strategic move and others seeing it as surrender. This agreement, and more generally the two countries’ ability to isolate and contain the Taliban, is critical to the future viability of Afghanistan and will also have important political repercussions in Pakistan.
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