Why Pakistan matters

In his Monday evening speech on Afghanistan, President Trump signaled an about-face in U.S. policy towards Pakistan.

"We have been paying Pakistan billions and billions of dollars at the same time they are housing the very terrorists that we are fighting." Trump continued, "But that will have to change, and that will change immediately."

Since 2001, the U.S. government has attempted to apply a double-edged strategy with Pakistan. In public, it has used financial leverage, diplomatic engagement, and warm words in an attempt to persuade Pakistan to support U.S. counterterrorism priorities. In private, while the U.S. has occasionally used covert action to strike Pakistan-based terrorists, it has largely relied on Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency to pursue that end. And unfortunately, the ISI is in bed with many of the same terrorists that the U.S. seeks to destroy.

Put simply, U.S. policy towards Pakistan has failed, and change is needed.

But what will Trump's tougher approach entail? Although the Washington Examiner's Tom Rogan has offered some ideas, at this point we simply don't know.