A key review of US nuclear strategy has been delayed again, as US President Barack Obama decides on a broad new policy for nuclear weapons. Obama is planning “dramatic reductions” in the nuclear arsenal, a senior White House official told the BBC, as the president met with Defence Secretary Robert Gates.

Afghanistan used to be the problem, then it was Iraq — except that neither Afghanistan nor Iraq as countries were really the problem. So what will President Obama decide to do in relation to Pakistan?A decision to do nothing is still a decision. The only problem is, unlike Afghanistan and Iraq, Pakistan really does have nuclear weapons. God help us and the world if Pakistan as a nation turns fundamentalist Muslim.

To prevent either scenario, Pakistan must move to the top of our strategic agenda, albeit closely related to Afghanistan,” he wrote. “Neither greater economic assistance, nor more civilian advisers upcountry, nor stronger democratic institutions will eliminate the strategic threat nearly soon enough… We must strengthen pro-American elements in Pakistan’s military so they can purge dangerous Islamicists from their ranks; roll back Taliban advances; and, together with our increased efforts in Afghanistan, decisively defeat the militants on either side of the border.

New evidence has discovered a much greater US presence in Pakistan not limited to its remote areas. The infamous private military company best known as Blackwater are actively engaged in operations emanating from the port city of Karachi.