"Pakistan is in a struggle for its survival," acknowledges President Asif Ali Zardari. He is not exaggerating. Earlier this month, the country suffered three suicide bombings in 24 hours and the Pakistan Taliban has vowed to maintain that murderous pace if the government does not halt its support for U.S. missile strikes against Taliban forces in Pakistan. Giving in would be a mistake: The Taliban shows no interest in peaceful coexistence. It is determined to extend its reach no matter what the means or what the cost.

The recent series of suicide attacks in Pakistan claimed at least 40 lives. The bombers hit a mosque in Chakwal, a town with close ties to the Pakistani Army, an upper-class neighborhood in Islamabad and a group of civilians in a village in North Waziristan. Those attacks followed a commando-style assault on a police training school in Lahore that claimed 25 lives and wounded more than 100 others. Lahore was the scene of another attack weeks before when terrorists attacked a visiting Sri Lankan cricket team on its way to a match, killing seven people and wounding eight others. Yet another terrorist blew himself up in a mosque near the Afghan border, killing at least 50 people.

Mr. Baitullah Mehsud, leader of the Pakistani Taliban, has claimed responsibility for many of the suicide attacks and has promised to increase them to two a week if the government in Islamabad does not end its support for U.S. missile attacks on Pakistan's soil. Mr. Mehsud said that the Islamabad bombing was in retaliation for an attack on him that missed its target, but took 10 lives.