A new report quotes American officials as stating privately that “parts of the Pakistani state may not be fully on board” in the fight against the Taliban. The report published by the Council on Foreign Relations and authored by Barnett A Rubin, who was UN special representative Lakhdar Brahmi’s adviser on Afghanistan and is the author of a number of books on Afghanistan, quotes these American officials as arguing that, given President Pervez Musharraf’s “vulnerability,” Washington should stick to a policy of “public support and private pressure” so as to not destabilise his regime. He argues that this approach rests on the belief that stability in Pakistan depends solely on the military, a “self-serving view” promoted by the latter to their American counterparts for decades. According to Rubin, the US government must recognise that security in Afghanistan hinges on democratising Pakistan. Military domination of the Pakistani state is the problem, not the solution. Elections will not democratise Pakistan as long as the military continues to control state institutions. The US needs to signal at a high level that it wants to see the withdrawal of military control from Pakistan’s civilian institutions and genuine freedom for political parties. It should support Pakistan’s development by immediately lifting restrictions on Pakistani textile imports into the US, as Pakistani business has a strong economic interest in Afghan stabilisation.