David Ignatius is one of the smarter foreign policy writers around and his column in today's WP is well worth a read. The piece is centered around a National Intelligence Estimate released July 17.
Igantius notes that the NIE "put the problem plainly enough: Al-Qaeda has "regenerated key elements of its Homeland attack capability" using a new haven in the lawless frontier area of northwest Pakistan known as Waziristan."

He goes on to ask a very important question:
"What should the United States do about al-Qaeda's new haven in Pakistan, from which it may already be plotting attacks that could kill thousands of Americans?"
and seems to suggest an approach that is light on force (perhaps using counter insurgency tactics) and heavy on economic aid.

While there is some merit to this idea, I wish that Igantius had also sought to tackle the political dimensions of this problem. I strongly believe that dealing with Waziristan/Pakistan cannot be done in isolation but must be looked at as part of a broader regional strategy including Afghanistan, India and Iran -- essentially the eastern piece of NEASFram.