In the 1990s, Pakistan's government began nurturing the Taliban as a way to gain influence over Afghanistan. But now, Islamabad's malignant child is turning on its parent.

From the NYT. By Dexter Filkins, author of The Forever War:

The chaos that is engulfing Pakistan appears to represent an especially frightening case of strategic blowback, one that has now begun to seriously undermine the American effort in Afghanistan. Tensions over Washington’s demands that the militants be brought under control have been rising, and last week an exchange of fire erupted between American and Pakistani troops along the Afghan border. So it seems a good moment to take a look back at how the chaos has developed.

It was more than a decade ago that Pakistan’s leaders began nurturing the Taliban and their brethren to help advance the country’s regional interests. Now they are finding that their home-schooled militants have grown too strong to control. No longer content to just cross into Afghanistan to kill American soldiers, the militants have begun to challenge the government itself. “The Pakistanis are truly concerned about their whole country unraveling,” said a Western military official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the matter is sensitive.

That is a horrifying prospect, especially for Pakistan’s fledgling civilian government, its first since 1999. The country has a substantial arsenal of nuclear weapons. The tribal areas, which harbor thousands of Taliban militants, are also believed to contain Al Qaeda’s senior leaders, including Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri.

It’s all the greater a paradox, then, that the Taliban militias now threatening the stability of Pakistan owe their survival — and much of their present strength — to a succession of Pakistani governments that continues to the present day.

Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf took billions from the U.S. but did precious little to rein in the Taliban, although a number of top al Qaeda operatives were arrested in Pakistan.

The article also noted that Musharraf did almost nothing to crack down on madrassas, the religious schools that served as incubators of Islamist hate.

This summer, the person believed to be behind a deadly July attack on India's embassy in Kabul is believed to be a Pakistani intelligence asset.

And since the 2007 storming of the Red Mosque in Islamabad, the Taliban have taken aim at Pakistan's government itself.

However, the U.S. has put increasing pressure on Pakistan's government to do something about the militants.

Here's how Filkins sees it ending:

What does the future hold? Some American analysts worry that the fledgling civilian government in Pakistan won’t be able to survive the cross-currents of American pressure and the anti-American anger it stimulates. For their part, American officials have been silent on whether they will attempt more cross-border raids, but privately they say the situation in the tribal areas is contributing to the deterioration of the sutiation in Afghanistan. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said this month that while he was sure that victory in Afghanistan was possible, ”I’m not convinced we’re winning it” there now.

One thing seems a good bet: that the fires and deaths that consumed the Marriot Hotel last weekend will not be the last.