Wednesday’s car bomb attack that killed 7 and injured 21 in Khost, a town near Afghanistan’s eastern border, serves as a reminder of just how volatile the security situation has become in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Just a day earlier in the same city of Khost 11 suicide bombers attacked government buildings. These developments greeted President Obama’s recent nominee for U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Lt. General Stanley McChrystal.

McChrystal is known primarily as a counter insurgency expert. He was the head of JSOC (Joint Special Operation Command) for five years. He presided over the capture of Saddam Hussein and the killing of Zarqawi in Iraq. The appointment by President Obama could signal a shift in the administration’s approach to Afghanistan, possibly a shift toward an increased priority on tracking and killing Taliban leaders in the region. This is essentially the same policy that was pursued by the Bush administration late in his second term. The targeted air strikes, carried out by predator drones on the Pakistan side of the border, resulted in large numbers of civilian casualties. Just last week approximately 150 civilians (a large percentage of who were young children) were killed in an air strike carried out by United States Special Forces.

This recent air strike in Afghanistan as well as the many air strikes carried out by predator drones on the Pakistan side of the border, have added to the continuing escalation of violence in the region through the brewing a hatred toward the US and NATO presence.

In reaction to the anger on the part of the Pakistani people affected by the drone strikes, the United States has set up a joint command center in Afghanistan where U.S. soldiers and Pakistan officials are working side by side in carrying out the drone attacks. The Pakistani government has said publicly that they hope this will curb the anger of Pakistani civilians who were outraged at unilateral strikes killing civilians in their sovereign country. The risk is that before this joint command center was announced, the Pakistani government was perceived as turning a blind eye to the drone attacks, while now they have an official hand in the operation. This will likely further discredit the Pakistani government among its own citizens.

Yet another growing concern for the Pakistani population is the 1,000,000 civilians who have been displaced from their homes by the intense fighting taking place in the Swat Valley in northwest Pakistan. This situation is quickly escalating into a full blown humanitarian crisis.

An interesting fact to keep in mind when following the developments in this region is that the Taliban forces numbered only 4,000 men at the beginning of their battle with Pakistani army forces. Since then the Taliban has lost approximately 735 men, according to the Pakistani government. Once the Pakistani Army committed to act against the Taliban they have routed them with general ease. So why did the Pakistani government not react earlier? Because they have a much bigger concern on their mind: namely India, their neighbor to the east. So Pakistan’s reluctance to act against the Taliban may say less about how they view the Taliban and more about how they view their relationship with India.

The situation in Afghanistan is spilling over into Pakistan and US officials have continually had to remind the government in Islamabad why they have to care, namely money to beef up their forces as a deterrent to India. And that is the only place it seems Washington and Islamabad do see eye to eye.