How does the president of a sovereign country left in the dark about a military operation carried out by another country on its own soil try to save himself from humiliation?

He whines.

President Zardari of Pakistan offered several lame reasons in the Washington Post why some of the glory earned by our SEALs actually belongs to his traitorous, double-dealing nation:

Pakistan, perhaps the world's greatest victim of terrorism, joins the other targets of al-Qaeda - the people of the United States, Britain, Spain, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Turkey, Yemen, Kenya, Tanzania, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Algeria - in our satisfaction that the source of the greatest evil of the new millennium has been silenced, and his victims given justice. He was not anywhere we had anticipated he would be, but now he is gone.

Some in the U.S. press have suggested that Pakistan lacked vitality in its pursuit of terrorism, or worse yet that we were disingenuous and actually protected the terrorists we claimed to be pursuing. Such baseless speculation may make exciting cable news, but it doesn't reflect fact. Pakistan had as much reason to despise al-Qaeda as any nation. The war on terrorism is as much Pakistan's war as as it is America's. And though it may have started with bin Laden, the forces of modernity and moderation remain under serious threat.

Only hours after bin Laden's death, the Taliban reacted by blaming the government of Pakistan and calling for retribution against its leaders, and specifically against me as the nation's president. We will not be intimidated. Pakistan has never been and never will be the hotbed of fanaticism that is often described by the media.

Together, our nations have suffered and sacrificed. We have fought bravely and with passion and commitment. Ultimately we will prevail. For, in the words of my martyred wife Benazir Bhutto, "truth, justice and the forces of history are on our side."