Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani made a surprisingly frank assessment of what was wrong with Pakistan in his Independence Day address at Kakul. He described the state of extremism in Pakistan as a thinking norm, tracing it to religion.

Amid rising deaths, political setbacks, financial problems, competing local interests and a looming withdrawal deadline, Afghanistan has become a formidable challenge for AmericaThe pursuit of a settlement in Afghanistan has become a formidable political and financial challenge for the United States.