Pakistan, Oct. 12 -- History has a way of circling back to those who refuse to learn from it. In the late 1970s, Pakistan stood at the crossroads of global power politics, America's frontline ally against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. What began as a calculated geopolitical move soon became one of the most disastrous social experiments of modern times, the manufacturing of religious extremism as a tool of war.

When Soviet forces entered Afghanistan in 1979, Washington saw a chance to bleed its rival without confrontation. Through Pakistan's military, the CIA funneled billions of dollars to Afghan resistance fighters, the Mujahideen, under the banner of jihad. Between 1979 and 1989, the U.S. spent an estimated USD 3-4 billion throug...