My understanding of Pakistan.

This week, the government of Pakistan ceded a part of the Swat valley region of Pakistan to the Taliban.
When we originally went to Afghanistan, the Taliban were 'easily routed'. Oh good, we thought, we're still the mightiest army in the world. That must have given Rumsfeld and Cheney some kind of cockiness with regard to Iraq. While we focused on Iraq, Afghanistan fell apart - the Taliban came back; they'd been hiding in the mountains of Pakistan in what we now call The Tribal Region.
So, the Bush administration knows Pakistan is a problem - but at least they're kind of on our side and we can 'bribe' them with lots of money and weapons. While Musharaff, the leader of Pakistan, is sticking with the US, the people of Pakistan are against the US and support the Taliban or Osama bin Laden (generally anyway - I don't know how many). The leader of Pakistan is a military leader as well. So, he keeps order in his country by using some force, I think.
But, Americans don't like military leaders and they don't like dictators. So, there was pressure from the Bush Administration to Musharaff that he should not be a military leader and there should be elections or something. That was the beginning of him losing his grip on power. The whole house of cards fell. Now, Pakistan is a little out of control. Not only do they have nuclear weapons and an ongoing battle with India, but their economy is bad and the Taliban hide in their mountainous region. The talk from foreign policy expets I see on TV is that Pakistan is the problem spot; the place we need to focus on. Afghanistan is a symptom of the problems in Pakistan, not the cause.
The fact that the government ceded an area to the Taliban is an indication of how much trouble there is in Pakistan. The current leader of Pakistan is the husband of slain party leader Benazir Bhutto who used to be President of Pakistan and who's father was President (I believe) and who was voted out because of her administration's corruption. As I understand the corruption came mostly from her husband using her admiistration, but her father had corruption issues as well.
Anyway - they've got a leader most of the people don't trust, and a Taliban appealing to their fear and religious beliefs. Its not good.
It really matters to me when the United States has allies for the wrong reasons. We should have allies because they value the same things we say we do. I guess the problem is that I think the United States values something different than other people. To many people safety is the thing they value above all else and sometimes you have to make a deal with the devil to stay safe.
It seems clear that when the US makes a "deal with the devil" it always comes back to bite us in the butt!