Pakistan has made a de facto truce with the Taliban in the lawless northwest tribal regions of its territory.  By allowing a system of Islamic law to be practiced in the Swat Valley area of the tribal regions and ceasing military operations against fundamentalist militants, the government of Pakistan has in essence set up an unfettered sanctuary for the Taliban and their allies.

The move has caught the United States and its NATO allies by surprise, none of whom expected such a swift concession of the territory by Pakistan.  Such is life however in this violent and extremely complicated region of central Asia.  The truth of the matter is that Pakistan has never truly controlled its tribal regions.  It simply got stuck with them and the “War on Terror” forced it into half-hearted military operations that many of its citizens and military personnel never supported in the first place.  Add to that the ferocity of the Taliban attacks, who have been fighting someone or other virtually nonstop since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the late 1970’s, which have embarrassed Pakistan’s military and cost benefit analysis for the Pakistani government was pretty easy to figure out.  You can takepart in helping to rectify the post Taliban situation in neighboring Afghanistan by checking out Afghans for Civil Society.

LINKS:

NY Times: Pakistan makes a Taliban truce, creating a haven

ABC News: Pakistan-Taliban peace deal shocks and worries West

Agence France Presse: Pakistan denies ‘concession’ in deal with Taliban