September 24

Covering the Marriott Hotel bombing in Islamabad this week, I was struck by how many people blamed the US for the attack – eyewitnesses, businessmen, newspaper writers. A few bought the outrageous conspiracy theory that the CIA was behind the bombing (to justify further US raids in the tribal areas, they said). But more saw the attack as Taliban/AQ payback for US military operations inside Pakistan. So, by their logic, average Pakistanis again paid the price for US actions unconnected to their interests. They were angry, angrier than I’ve seen them in a long time.

As we approach Friday’s foreign policy debate for the US presidential candidates, it reminded me of the mountain the next president has to climb in the Muslim World: not only fighting jihadis, but a much wider population who doesn’t see the war on terror as their war. It’s not just an image problem, but a real problem advancing US interests, from fighting the Taliban in Pakistan to winning the war in Afghanistan to keeping young British Muslims from joining jihad in London. I’m hoping the candidates face at least one or two hard questions on this. Jim