The idea that political boundaries pose constraints for Islamics who have a global view of jihad is silly.
The "jihad" in Afghanistan could never be maintained without recipt of assistance from outside forces, and provision of sanctuaries where enemy combatants could rest, regroup, and redeploy their forces.
China is averse to an Islamic build-up due to the problems it has in Sinkiang in pacifying the Muslims there. China is in a state of great internal unrest and disruption, and is an unlikely ally of the jihadists. Now Russia with a sense of grievance, is another matter.
Of coure, the Islamic states are bound to provide support for the jihadists. Pakistan is actively supporting the terrorists in their actions.
It appears that Obama might have correctly observed that the Pakistanis need some "discipline" and should be subject to attack if they continue to provide support to those opposing our forces in Afghanistan. Of course, this is actual implementation of the Bush policy of "Either they're for us or against us," a policy declaration that the Bush administration never enforced.
It resolves itself into a matter of which alternative provides the least aggravation for the Pakistani government. If we continue to "understand" their dilemma in permitting and supporting jihadists in their border regions, then we provide them with a reason for not fighting our foes as their enemy. We need to end our "understanding" of their situation and impose consequences that cause them to choose to engage the tribal forces.
It als may be necessary to impose heavier penalties on drug dealers and users, who trade in the drugs that Afghanistan produces, which provide revenue for the al-Qaeda groups. And of course, we seem to find tactics which discourage cooperation with the al-Qaeda-Taliban to be distasteful, and impose restrictions on ourselves that are irrational in the conduct of hostilities. You will recall that the Taliban successfully curtailed the drug trade with their ruthless suppression and punishment. We are unwilling to take the necessary actions to achieve our purposes. Inanity.
We need to be just as forceful as the al-Qaeda-Taliban axis in terrorizing the civilian population, so that supporting our foes will not be the easy way out. The indigenous population will need to make hard choices as to who will secure their cooperation and support knowing full well that opposing us will result in consequences to them as uninviting as those involved in opposing the Taliban. They are in a bad situation, and the choices for them should be between worse and bad so that they choose us, bad, in preference to worse.
