Karzai: In US vs. Pakistan, We Pick Pakistan

So how well received was Hillary Clinton's admonition to Afghan President Hamid Karzai that he had to step up pressure on Pakistan to stop sending militants into Afghanistan? On Thursday, Karzai seemed to be on board, even slamming his neighbor to the east. Yesterday? Not so much. "If fighting starts between Pakistan and the US, we are beside Pakistan," Karzai told a Pakistani TV station yesterday. "If Pakistan is attacked and the people of Pakistan need Afghanistan's help, Afghanistan will be there with you."

In the interview, the AP reports that Karzai emphasized how indebted Afghanistan was to Pakistan for taking in millions of Afghan refugees over the years, calling its neighbor a "brother." Meanwhile, another NATO service member was killed in an attack yesterday in eastern Afghanistan, where many insurgents come from Pakistan to operate, bringing the total NATO deaths so far this year to 472. (More Afghanistan stories.)