Some villagers returned home last week to the Swat District of Pakistan, where Taliban control is raising hackles. B.K. Bangash/Associated PressFrom The New York Times:
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — The Taliban and the Pakistani Army signed a truce last month in Swat, the once popular tourist area just an hour north of the capital. But far from establishing peace, the pact seems to have allowed the Taliban free rein to expand their harsh religious rule.
Just days after the truce was signed, a member of a prominent anti-Taliban family returned to his mountain village, having received assurances from the government that it was safe. He was promptly kidnapped by the Taliban, tortured and murdered.
The militants then erected roadblocks to search cars for any relatives who dared travel there for his funeral. None did.
This week, two Pakistani soldiers who were part of a convoy escorting a water tanker were shot and killed because they failed to inform the Taliban in advance of their movements.
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My Comment: When I think of Pakistan, I always remember the quote from the U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. "A House divided cannot stand".
This sums up Pakistan today. And the scary part of this situation is that the only winners from this truce is the Taliban. It gives them legitimacy and support from the institutions that should be attacking them and rooting them out of the Tribal regions.
In the end .... the people who will suffer will be the people of Pakistan. The people in Afghanistan. And finally .... U.S. and allied troops in Afghanistan.
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