The recent Osama bin Laden raid has refueled the debate surrounding the relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan. High ranking U.S. officials, such as President Barack Obama and CIA Director Leon Panetta, have made it clear that they suspect at least some Pakistani collusion with bin Laden. Indeed, given that his so called “mansion” was essentially down the street from Pakistan's West Point, it seems unlikely that nobody in the higher echelons of the Pakistani government and military knew about bin Laden's presence.

This likely collusion has resulted in perhaps the most serious effort to date to ascertain whether or not Pakistan is an ally and whether or not the country is deserving of U.S. foreign aid. Numerous lawmakers and commentators on both sides of the political aisle have urged President Obama to halt aid. Pakistan has retaliated by threatening to invite China to examine the downed stealth chopper which was only partially destroyed in the raid.
The problem with this debate is that it assumes that Pakistan and the U.S. have a choice about whether not they can be allies. In short, this “choice” is greatly exaggerated. Like it or not, the U.S. and Pakistan are forced into being allies and no amount of punditry will change this scenario.
It is important to examine the rationale for both sides and why a “cold” friendship between them is necessary. Although it is certainly true that Pakistan has extremist elements in its government, most notably its ISI is infiltrated with Taliban and other extremists, the main reason why Pakistan has not undertaken a massive and dedicated anti-extremist campaign in its Waziristan region is because Pakistan ironically needs their presence.
Pakistan's eternal enemy has been and always will always be India. The countries have fought numerous wars over the past 50 years for the disputed Kashmir region (with Pakistan on the losing end for the majority) and the main impetus for ascertaining nuclear weapons for both states was to deter aggression from the other. Pakistan sees these extremists as, essentially, an extension of the Pakistani regular army in that they provide a buffer and puppet against India.
Although Pakistan has little control over the actions of these insurgents, these insurgents hate India and thus Pakistan has a “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” type of relationship with them. However, Pakistan realizes this to be a double edged sword. The insurgents are highly powerful and influential within Pakistani politics and thus, it is quite likely that without U.S. support extremists would completely overrun or hijack Pakistan's government.
On the other side, the U.S. needs Pakistan for the simple reason that Afghanistan cannot succeed without Pakistani help. The Taliban commonly retreat into Pakistan to regroup. Although Pakistan has voiced its dissent, it has so far not physically attempted to stop U.S. drone attacks within its territory. Should the U.S. abandon this friendship, the war in Afghanistan would become much harder as Pakistan would likely strictly enforce its national sovereignty.
In addition, Pakistan is the only state with significant extremist activity that also is in possession of nuclear weapons. Should the U.S. rebuke Pakistan and cut off aid, extremists may come into power and thus with minimal effort, control a significant nuclear stockpile.
In short, Pakistan and the United States cannot choose to be friends, they MUST be friends. It is in the interest of both states to continue the cold friendship that they have. Indeed, Pakistan and the U.S. can be said to be married to each other, without the option of divorce. Until the Kashmir issue is settled once and for all, bring in the marriage counselors.
(Source: news.yahoo.com