Pakistan and terror.

Prof. Ayers succinctly makes clear that Pakistan has gotten away with its utter fairytales for too long, and in the process she succinctly states the connection between terror and Muslim charities (hint: cherrorism):

Like Hamas and Hezbollah, Lashkar excels at both terrorism and humanitarian relief. The funds for the airline bombers are alleged to have been diverted from those gathered in British mosques after last year's massive earthquake in South Asia. This combination of jihadism with social work makes tackling such groups infinitely more tricky, but tackle them we must, and for that Gen. Musharraf's regime must be held to account.

Five years after 9/11, Pakistan remains a deeply problematic ally in the war on terror. . . .

. . . Gen. Musharraf presents himself as the last line of defense between the mullahs and Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, but in fact, as has been amply documented by the Pakistani diplomat and scholar Husain Haqqani, the relationship between the army and the jihadists is symbiotic rather than adversarial. The army plays up the terrorist threat in order to consolidate its position in Western capitals, while at best turning a blind eye to the violence they export.

All this was bad enough. But now with the airline bombing plot implicating the LET specifically, this problem has arrived on our doorstep. A coordinated trans-Atlantic effort must make the closure of Lashkar -- and also the resurgent Taliban, which increasingly uses Pakistani bases to launch attacks on NATO troops in Afghanistan -- the highest priority. Pakistan must take responsibility for the activities of these groups that operate from its soil, and cosmetic gestures, such as the recent house arrest of Saeed and the arrest of low-level Taliban in a Quetta hospital -- will not suffice. For its own sake, the sake of the neighborhood, and indeed the security of our homeland, it is time Islamabad backed its platitudes about fighting terror with real action.

"Regional Terror Goes Global." By Alyssa Ayres, Wall Street Journal Online, 8/18/06 (emphasis added, subscription).