A reassuring thought

Here's a gem of American foreign policy thinking: a blog from the editors of Foreign Policy magazine.

Blake Hounshell writes that we shouldn't be depending on individuals in Pakistan, but instead encouraging democracy. That's good advice, but here's how he ends his analysis:

[...] stringent U.S. oversight has ensured that Pakistan’s pro-Western military would retain firm control over the country's nuclear arsenal. Indeed, Pakistan's military would still wield a great deal of power under any civilian leader, as it did under Bhutto and Sharif. It's a reassuring thought.

See full post here.

Oh, great. So, we should be reassured that the Pakistan military will retain power and firm control over the nuclear arsenal?

This would be the same Pakistan military that:

1. Is known to have spread nuclear technology among many "rogue states", and now continues to shield A.Q. Khan from any questioning by atomic energy experts or by the U.S. government?
   
2. Remains a closed mafia whose budgets cannot be audited, which acquires public land and resources illegally, which can place retired officers as CEOs in any public sector undertaking, and is not answerable to any civilian government in Pakistan?
   
3. Indoctrinates its officers and jawans to believe that civilians are corrupt and that the military alone knows what is best for the country (obviously untrue, given today's sorry state of Pakistan)?
4. Uses its intelligence services to spy on, intimidate, and assassinate journalists and politicians, and uses jihadis to achieve its own ill-conceived objectives?

With this kind of "stringent U.S. oversight", I guess we should all sleep well.