Nigeria, Oct. 11 -- In the jagged mountain ranges straddling Afghanistan and Pakistan, a resurgent Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (T.T.P.), are ratcheting up a relentless and deadly guerrilla war against Pakistani security forces as I write this piece. Roads clogged with convoys of battered trucks, overloaded with bedding, cooking pots, sacks of grain, and families fleeing in haste, are now familiar sights. Many have sought refuge in schools, government offices, and private homes in safer parts of the district.

Pakistan is, without doubt, experiencing its own Boko Haram moment and this is not merely an insurgency; it is the bitter harvest of decades of shortsighted political choices. But to understand how the tige...