But officials say the United States has little choice but to be patient and help as it can. Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the United States has provided $10.5 billion to Pakistan, mostly in military aid. The United States has pledged $750 million to ease what the State Department says are "abysmal social conditions" in the border regions, but much of it is being held up because of terrorist attacks there.
A major step, State Department officials say, would be the establishment of free-trade zones in the border areas, but legislation authorizing such zones is stalled in Congress and given little chance of passage, State Department officials say.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon is sending several dozen trainers to Pakistan this summer to train the Pakistani army and the Frontier Corps, which patrols the border regions, in counterinsurgency tactics. But analysts such as Rashid say the Frontier Corps, a locally based militia, is heavily infiltrated by extremists.
