Initial reporting of Secretary Clinton’s recent trip to Pakistan emphasized a “tough talk” message to the Pakistanis. What is now emerging is a clearer picture of the Obama administration’s strategy to end the Afghan war centered on a long-shot hope that extremist elements can be brought to the negotiating table with the Pakistan ISI’s assistance in conjunction with cooperation from various regional powers. Those prospects do not seem promising.

The Obama administration, seeking to set in motion a series of events that will enable it to bring US military involvement in Afghanistan to an end by 2014, is revising its diplomatic strategy.  The war has taught many lessons, but perhaps none more obvious than the resilience of extremist elements, beginning with al Qaeda still operating after the death of bin Laden and extending to its brothers-in-arms the Haqqani Network, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and the Taliban.  As former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mullen recently testified, the Haqqani Network is being aided by Pakistani governmental entities, notably the ISI intelligence service.