After all these years of the United States twisting arms and playing footsie, its current president says America has been foolish to give Pakistan billions of dollars because it got nothing but deceit in return. So the Trump administration recently decided to cut off aid to Pakistan for not helping out with Afghanistan. But that’s as bad as giving aid to Pakistan for helping out with Afghanistan: The war will continue, still under false pretenses. Trump is only hiding behind the myth of American innocence — much like Pakistan disguises its deceit as strategic interest.

During these four decades, Pakistan’s military establishment has convinced the nation that a permanent war is not such a bad thing after all. Never mind the experts who say that Pakistan is on the verge of becoming like Afghanistan — another casual insult, which rankles both countries.

Pakistan has not only paid in blood as the Pakistani Taliban have blown up schools, mosques and churches, and assassinated leading politicians. It has also acquired a new mind-set that normalizes, even glorifies, mini-massacres. The mass murder of school children is called a collective sacrifice; civilians randomly blown up while going about their business are celebrated as martyrs. A radical (takfiri) interpretation of Islam, imported from Saudi Arabia and perfected during the Afghan jihad, has become so normal that any citizen who opposes violence committed in the name of religion is called an American stooge or a heretic (kafir).

Americans say that Pakistan is playing a double game, but they should see the kind of games Pakistan plays with its own citizens.

The Pakistani establishment, both political and military, is quick to point out its sacrifices in the war on terror. Look at our causalities, look at our economic losses, it tells America. Then it turns around and tells its own people that the Taliban are not the problem, that America is.