AP Photo

By Peter Henne

Each day seems to bring worse news out of Pakistan, as US airstrikes infuriate civilians and Taliban militants attack deep inside the country. This follows a longer string of bad news, with the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in 2007 and a recent peace deal with the Taliban that led to the imposition of Shari'a law in the picturesque Swat Valley. Frustrated and nervous at the current ineffective Pakistani leadership, US leaders now appear to be turning to an alternative in Nawaz Sharif, the former Prime Minister who was overthrown by Pervez Musharraf in 1999. Sharif is an effective politician, but relying on him to control the extremist threat in Pakistan and advance US interests would be a serious mistake. It is true there are problems with the current Pakistani...