It might prefer, for example, to strike the fugitive Pakistani Taliban there using American drone attacks.
Other parties may come to copy their ideas for a new strategy in Afghanistan But the call for “tea with the Taliban” was a soundbite too far.
President Karzai, who visited wounded American soldiers on Tuesday, has conveyed gratitude for U.S. support in Afghanistan, including the sacrifices of U.S. troops fighting the Taliban insurgency.
So long as America and its Allies do not respond to this grievance, Pakistan is sure they will fail, quit Afghanistan in chaos and leave the way open for the Taliban to return.
Pakistani officials blamed the Taliban, and speculated that the bombing was in reprisal for the army's continuing offensive against Taliban fighters in NWFP's Swat Valley.
ISAF officials like to display diagrams of how they intend to drive a wedge between the "irreconcilable" Taliban based largely in Pakistan and the more moderate local elements.
But the Taliban seem unconcerned about their own losses. They have recently readopted the tactic of massing several score of their fighters in ambushes, knowing that most will be killed.
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters the best way to expedite both the reconciliation and reintegration process is to keep up the allied military pressure on the Taliban.
General Abbas said 70 police and paramilitary troops were kidnapped from police stations Tuesday by Taliban fighters in Buner, but 18 of them have been recovered.
But American forces in Marja are now under nightly attack, locals have been beheaded by the Taliban for co-operating with them, and there is little government in evidence.
He called the increase in Taliban attacks a conspicuously well-orchestrated attempt to incite fear among Afghans and hinder international support for his country.
While the Taliban were ousted from power, 10 years later, many Afghans still feel let down by the international effort to rid their country of the Taliban and normalize its institutions.
The army has a poor record of winning the hearts and minds of the Mehsuds. But if it can prove it is now determined to rout the Taliban, they might yet start to trust it and the government again.
Rescue efforts will divert the army from its campaign against the Pakistani Taliban in Waziristan.
