Attack Puts U.S., Pakistan on Horns of Dilemma

After three more Americans were killed in a Taliban suicide attack this week, the most dangerous country in the world, Pakistan, is facing a big choice: what does it hate worse—American involvement inside its borders or crazy terrorists killing its people?

A major fact dominating last fall's long Situation Room deliberations: Al Qaeda isn't in Afghanistan; it's in Pakistan. The primary national-security question facing the Obama administration is whether we can do anything about it.

This latest attack makes it harder. It has been a poorly kept secret that the CIA and even U.S troops have been operating in Pakistan for years. But now the aggressive Pakistan media can no longer be convinced to look the other way. The proud army of half a million troops needs our help. But don't expect Pakistanis to cop to it. Instead, they will now just step up the anti-Americanism. Chalk it up to "no good deed goes unpunished."