[Islamabad, 2 October 2001]: Pakistan and the United States seem keen to prevent any perception of possible cleavage in the anti-terrorism coalition given their competing interests over Afghanistan. The key areas of divergence revolve around the role of the Northern Alliance in the anti-Osama campaign, and, equally important, were the Taleban regime to unravel in the process, what sort of new political dispensation should replace it?

Ironies abound for the United States and Pakistan as they try to cover their tracks while recovering from the consequences of policies they pushed and promoted in the past.