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The Taliban Reborn

Until the failed attempt to bomb Times Square, America and the West may have felt as if there was a lull in terrorism. In Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India, no such feeling ever took hold, and the question has not been whether the "war on terror" can be wound down, but whether Pakistan, which in many ways has become Islamic terrorism’s nexus, is doing all that it can to fight it.

NEW DELHI – The lull in headline-grabbing terror attacks appears to be over. But do the recent suicide attack on the Bagram air base outside of Kabul, a key United States military installation in Afghanistan, and the failed car bombing in New York City’s Times Square mean that the “war on terror” (a phrase that the Obama administration has deliberately sought to avoid) has reignited?

Although America and the West may have felt as if jihadist terrorism was declining in its ferocity, in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India, no such feeling of false security ever took hold. Indeed, the question in this region is not whether the war on terror can be wound down, but whether Pakistan, which in many ways has become Islamic terrorism’s nexus, is doing all that it can to fight it.

Here is a simple formula for assessing a country’s approach to combating terrorism: credibility + transparency + integrity of approach = legitimacy and effectiveness. Let us apply this formula to Pakistan.

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