US needs Pakistan

US President Barack Obama has upped pressure on the Pakistani government to name Osama bin Laden's possible allies. The left-liberal Austrian paper Der Standard believes Washington remains dependent on cooperation with Islamabad: "The pact between Washington and Islamabad is basically unbreakable, even though Islamabad is not really keeping to its part of the deal. With the money it is pumping into the Pakistani army the US is buying into the Pakistani system. To leave it to its own resources could be much more expensive. Without Pakistan's cooperation or if the radical forces in Pakistan are strengthened, the US's withdrawal from Afghanistan is called into question. And then there's Pakistan's nuclear weapon programme - the fastest growing in the world - which the US wants to keep a close eye on. ... Nonetheless there is the desire that the Pakistanis once more address the question of the sovereignty of a state where foreign terrorists like bin Laden can find refuge."

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