It sounds like something schemed up in a dorm room at 4:30am, after too many beers and too many bong hits:

“So, dude, I have the best idea on how to win this war on terror! We should just pay the terrorists, and then they would, you know, leave us alone, right? You want another hit off of this?”

Sorry to break the news, college boy, but your brilliant idea has already been co-opted by our staunch partner in the War on Terrorâ„¢, Pakistan.

Pakistan says it has paid 32m rupees ($540,000) to help four former wanted tribal militants in South Waziristan settle debts with al-Qaeda.

Military operations chief in the region, Lt Gen Safdar Hussain, said the payments were part of a peace deal signed on Monday with tribesmen…The peace deal offers an amnesty in return for the tribe’s pledge not to support al-Qaeda and Taleban militants or attack government installations.

Remember, this is the same country that has been granted “major non-NATO ally” status, which means that they receive a higher level of foreign aid and defense cooperation, and can get loan guarantees from the United States government. This type of status is not typical by any means, and was give to Pakistan as a reward for it’s assistance in the terrorism war.

But as much as Pakistan may have helped in certain aspects of the WOT, there are still a lot of inconsistencies that need to be mentioned. First off, if Pakistan is directly paying out money that winds up lining Al Qaeda’s pockets, isn’t that considered a conflict of interest? Remember, the President has repeatedly said that countries that support terrorists are just as guilty as the terrorists themselves. Secondly, It’s helpful to remember Pakistan’s response to the revelation that AQ Khan, one of their top scientists, was selling nuclear secrets to countries like North Korea and Iran; he was granted a full pardon. And thirdly, despite America’s stated intention of fighting oppressive dictators and spreading freedom throughout the world, Pakistan’s Pervez Musharraf is, you know, an oppressive dictator. While he has said some nice things about moving toward democracy, it hasn’t stopped him from going back on promises to reduce his control of the country. Somehow I don’t think that he is too worried about the United States overthrowing him to install a democratic government; after all, he’s useful.

An interesting thought—at the same time that we are giving Pakistan more foreign aid, they are paying off people’s debts to al Qaeda, who in turn are using the money to plot attacks against both us and the Pakistani government. Talk about a vicious cycle.