AT last, setting aside the superpower ego, the US has acknowledged the truth of what Pakistan has all along been saying about the growth of militant phenomenon that is plaguing the region. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, deposing before a Congressional committee, conceded that the US was harvesting what it had sown. She admitted that having brought forth and nurtured the jehadi elements, gathered together from the area and other parts of the Muslim world, the US left Pakistan in the lurch once the Soviets had been driven out of Afghanistan with their help. Islamabad, ill equipped to fight off the deadly fallout, had to put up with an illegal arms and drug culture and a host of other debilitating consequences of the US venture. It is pertinent to point out that Washington also needs to review its policies towards other nations in general and stop propping unpopular military or civilian leaders to the detriment of democratic forces in the belief that they serve its interests better. Dictators and stooges do not help it earn the goodwill of the people that is crucial to the furthering of its legitimate objectives abroad. Rather than supporting Zias and Musharrafs or wooing candidates of its choice it should help democratic leadership to flourish. One would like to imagine that Secretary Clinton's candour reflect a radical shift in policy by the Obama administration indicative of viewing the world realistically rather than a place for imperialistic exploitation and serving crass self-interest. The withdrawal from Iraq, where it had no business to be present in the first place, must not be in the fashion of the post-Soviet departure from Afghanistan. Perhaps, no compensation would be matching enough to the death and destruction the sin of its invasion has caused. It has shattered the peace of arguably the most advanced country of the Arabs, killed more than a million Iraqis, turned the land into a vast expanse of rubble - all on the basis of doctored intelligence to satisfy its thirst for oil. For all the brutalities and diplomatic exercises it has brought to bear to put down the insurgency against foreign occupation, the country is still afflicted with the curse of suicide bombings. In the last two days, over 150 people have lost their lives, demonstrating how disastrous has been the American aggression launched six years ago and how deceptive the calm that appeared to have returned to the country. The next step to Secretary Clinton's remarks should be to dispassionately view Islamabad's problems, both in the fields of security and economics, and extend it concrete help to get over them.