omen in the city of Rawalpindi complain that they are harassed if they don't wear headscarves. In Lahore, a prep school for girls has banned the wearing of blue jeans, for fear of a Taliban attack.

Pakistanis will point to the oppressive hand of history or the machinations of foreign nations to explain their descent into chaos

But no one bears more responsibility for a slow collective suicide than Pakistanis themselves

a first-grade primer

"A is for Allah," he reads. "B is for bandook, or gun." T, for thakrau, collision, is illustrated with a drawing of the World Trade Center in flames, while Z, for zenoub, the plural of sin, is depicted with alcohol bottles, kites, guitars, drums, a television and a chess set.

Pakistanis find it impossible to believe that India, with its booming economy and flourishing democracy, has moved on from the rivalry

Now it is commonly accepted that every political move in the country conceals an American motive

"All of us go by conspiracy theories.