The second request would provide $7.5 billion, over five years, to Pakistan. Under President Bush, aid to Pakistan went overwhelmingly for military uses. The bipartisan proposal by Senators John Kerry and Richard Lugar is intended to improve the lives of Pakistanis — and gain their support for the fight against extremists — by investing in schools, hospitals and water projects. It imposes reasonable conditions to ensure the military aid goes to fight the insurgents — not India. The five-year commitment is also intended to persuade Pakistan’s leaders that if they are finally willing to take on the Taliban, Washington will be there with them.  We have long worried that Pakistanis see this fight as America’s and not their own. But Congress must remember that this is also this country’s fight. Afghanistan cannot be ceded to the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Nor can Pakistan — its ungoverned border regions or its dozens of nuclear weapons.  Last week, militants came within 60 miles of Islamabad before the Pakistani army began to fight back. A bankrupt peace deal, in which the army ceded the Swat Valley to the Taliban, has now collapsed, and Pakistan’s leaders say they are readying a new offensive. One of Mr. Obama’s key tasks will be persuading Mr. Zardari and Pakistan’s army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, to keep that commitment and sustain operations.  Mr. Obama is sending 20,000 more American troops to fight the Taliban. Other challenges also require urgent attention. Afghans are fed up with the rampant corruption of Mr. Karzai’s government and its failure to provide basic services. A plan is needed to shut down the opium industry that is the Taliban’s main source of cash. Mr. Obama will need to help Mr. Zardari and Mr. Karzai finally understand that their only hope is in working together and with NATO forces — sharing intelligence and coordinating military operations on both sides of their border. Pakistan must do more to protect its nuclear weapons.  The Obama administration has sought to build ties with Pakistan’s opposition leader, Nawaz Sharif. Now the president must encourage Mr. Zardari to find a way to work with his rival. To take on the Taliban, Mr. Zardari will need all of the political support he can get.  A version of this editorial appears in print on , on Page A28 of the New York edition with the headline: Mr. Obama, Mr. Zardari and Mr. Karzai. Today's Paper|Subscribe
If there is any hope of defeating the Taliban, Congress must support President Obama’s plan to deal with Pakistan and Afghanistan as an integrated regional problem.