Good post and I cannot disagree with everything. However, I will call attention to a few points.
First, in hindsight we can say that the establishment miscalculated and "all will be forgiven" was looked upon too generously.
Second, while the miscalculation is possible, there are plenty of things behind the scenes that we are not aware of that may have been opened up as a result of change in government.
The first is that an IMF deal was reached averting a major balance of payment crises (nobody was willing to bail Pakistan out, we know this factually) so American support was crucial for it. What PTI could have done in terms of recovering the economy in med to long term was still not going to avert this balance of payment crises (we are still not out of it but we also have not defaulted).
Second, while we may not see the tangibles in the form of new military hardware flying into the country, there is a lot of maintenance and logistical support for which we are dependent on the US/West. The recent chatter about Pakistan signing CISMOA and participation in Ex. Brightstar reveals that the interaction is increasing whereas in all of PTI's term there was deathly silence on all fronts. Additionally, there could be intelligence sharing against ISIS/TTP that we are not aware of. On the issue of mil-mil relations picking up, for the general public this may not be a big issue but they are also not aware that Pakistan's defense needs cannot be met by China solely. This is a very important element to understand. E.g. KSA, UAE, Turkey and most recently even Armenia have had to take steps to align/re-align with powers that help with their security/defense posture. Pakistan is certainly no exception (one might argue our case is even more acute given the growing disparity each day vis-a-vis India).
So, this is not simply a case of "To make others happy, destroy own people/country". You have to keep in mind that our establishment is pretty clear about what it deems important to the country's security interests (as perceived by itself) and for the most part it sticks to its stance regardless of the blowback. This was the case with our nuclear program, support for Mujahideen, support for Taliban prior to 2001, and our policies throughout the US-Afghan war. So the establishment doesn't necessarily bend over for others all the time. They try to safeguard Pakistan's security interests where it is possible and sometimes there are no good choices.
Having stated the above, I do agree that whatever the situation, it is not the responsibility of the security establishment to set policies. However, I am also mindful that this is Pakistan where nothing happens as it should.
