Pakistan thumbs its nose at the US because we have given them...

MARTIN SMITH: Why would some elements of the government want to protect Pakistan from closer examination here? Isn't it about time, some people will say, that the American State Department got a little tougher on Pakistan?

STEPHEN COLL: Well, certainly, some people would make that argument, but the United States also has other interests in Pakistan that might trump Justice in a case like this. Pakistan's own internal stability is constantly a question. And given the size of its nuclear arsenal and the amount of fissile material lying around the country, anything that risks destabilizing the country is going to raise questions inside the U.S. government. This has been the dilemma of U.S. policy towards Pakistan for a long time. And unfortunately, they have learned that they really are seen as too big to fail by the West, and so they can take risks-

MARTIN SMITH: That Pakistan is too big to fail?

STEPHEN COLL: Pakistan is too big to fail, and so they can take risks that another weak government might never take because they believe that between their nuclear deterrent and the sort of systemic risk they pose to the rest of the world, that they'll never be fully confronted over behavior that another weak state might be overthrown for.