Pakistanis today are in a state of stupefied despair. The massive bomb that blew up the Marriott hotel in Islamabad at the weekend not only killed and injured more than 320 people; it has blown away any hopes that the newly elected civilian President and Government would see a respite from the violence and extremism dragging Pakistan to its destruction.

The aftershocks are still shaking the country. The currency sank to a new low as foreign investors displayed palpable nervousness. British Airways has suspended all flights to Pakistan, a clear sign of the fear gripping foreign companies that they will be targeted by those determined to wage jihad against the West. Gunmen kidnapped the Afghan consul in Peshawar, ambushing his car, killing his driver and sending a chilling signal to Islamabad that it can no longer protect anyone outside the capital.

Few people doubt that the violence has been instigated by al-Qaeda and Taleban militants in the lawless tribal provinces. Those intimidated by this new wave of terrorism have concluded that Pakistan's support of US policy is to blame. They say the Government has provoked the attacks by its military operations to hunt down terrorist leaders. Opportunistic and cowardly politicians such as Nawaz Sharif are even demanding a halt to all army offensives, calling on the Government to “sit down at the same table” and negotiate squalid deals with terrorists.

Others are belatedly realising that al-Qaeda will not be appeased with Danegeld. The extremists are determined to overthrow the Pakistani state, take revenge on all those who have challenged the militants in their mountain hideouts and force the country back into paranoid Islamist isolation. No concession will halt the violence.

It is time both groups looked reality in the face. Pakistan has brought this crisis squarely upon itself. Politicians and military leaders, beginning with General Zia ul-Haq and including General Musharraf, have pandered to the Islamists, exploiting religion to shore up their shaky authority and opening the way to narrow, intolerant, sectarian extremism. Squabbling politicians have been intent only on eliminating rivals and enriching themselves through corruption. Governments have abdicated responsibility for basic services such as health and education to indulge in a nuclear arms race, while feudal landlords have ignored the growing desperation of a burgeoning and impoverished population.

Pakistan has no one left to blame: neither India, against whom its murky security services have launched countless attacks, nor America, which has spent billions in aid but been rewarded only with obstruction and half-hearted support, nor even Pakistan's military, which after its latest failure at governance shows no appetite to seize power or take political responsibility again.

When even Kabul can assert more authority over its provinces than Islamabad can over swaths of tribal territory, the spectre of a failed state comes ever closer. The Islamists should remember what happened in Algeria or Chechnya, however, where extremists finally goaded the military into a decade of brutal retaliation. The Marriott bomb, intended apparently to kill all Pakistan's leadership, may be a precursor of violence that could dwarf anything seen in Iraq. This is no time to buy off al-Qaeda. It must be crushed.