"As president, I refuse to set goals that go beyond our responsibility, our means or our interests." These were President Obama's words as he defined the strategic principle guiding his Afghan Policy Review. In fact Obama used these words for justifying the redefining of the Afghan mission from an ambitious nation building exercise to a passive counterinsurgency strategy. As far as "responsibility" is concerned, Obama wanted to send a message to Hamid Karzai that the Americans don't see it as their obligation to continue to financially and militarily support the Afghan government. By mentioning "means", he was acknowledging the limited funds available for the Afghan war and limited patience of the American public for more body bags. It is going to cost Americans one million dollar per year per soldier in the Afghan war and every top defense official has warned of more casualties before the "new surge" is successful. And by highlighting "interests" Obama told his domestic audience that America is in Afghanistan not for the sake of Afghans but for her own benefit and interest. Applying the same principle to Pakistan, have the Pakistani policy makers re-evaluated their foreign policy objectives? Are the present military operations in line with "our responsibility, our means or our interests?" What is the cost of keeping one Pakistani soldier for one year in combat operations? What is the body bag count? Can we really afford to have our military installations attacked, our officers killed and our civilians martyred in an open ended commitment for years to come? Most important of all, do we really have a "responsibility" to fight this "War on Terror" whose sole objective is to protect American lives at home and in Afghanistan? Eight years after the war, America decided to redefine its goals and adopt modest objectives. Pakistani policy makers need to understand that they also should look to the future. It is not the number of lives lost or the damage which has been done rather the number of lives which can be saved and the catastrophes which could be averted which should define Pakistan's policy. Pakistan doesn't have the resources or the will neither the responsibility and patience and neither any interest in continuing its alliance with the US especially in a war, which is destroying Pakistan internally. -MOEZ MOBEEN, Islamabad