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Pakistan--now arguably America's biggest headache--was barely mentioned in the long course of the U.S. presidential campaign. When the two candidates jousted over foreign policy, it was invariably over Iraq or Afghanistan--or Iran, or Israel, or China.

Admittedly, on the few occasions when the word "Pakistan" was uttered, Barack Obama enunciated it better than John McCain. I remember saying to friends that if Obama were to win, the U.S. would for the first time elect to the White House a man who could pronounce the word "Pakistan" correctly: Paakistan--not Packistan. The Pakistanis I know noticed this, too: Foreigners sit up when Americans of consequence don't mispronounce foreign words--especially when the foreign word in question happens to be your own country's...