Getting Punk'd in Pakistan

February 24, 2009: Pakistan has come under a lot of criticism for its recent peace deal with Taliban terrorists in the Swat valley (an area northwest of the capital that is not in the tribal territories). Basically, the deal calls for the Taliban to stop terrorizing the population if the government allows the Taliban to enforce Sharia (Islamic law) in the region. This would allow the do whatever they wanted, because it is left to the Taliban to decide exactly what is proper Sharia. Afghanistan, India, NATO and the U.S. have all condemned this as a surrender to the Taliban and allowing terrorists a sanctuary inside Pakistan. But the Pakistani government insists that it is a proposal, not a done deal, at least not until the Taliban allow government officials to regain control of Swat. Thus it appears that all the peace talk with the Swat Taliban is just that, until the Taliban allow the refugees (over 100,000 of them) to return to Swat, along with the government officials. Few believe this "peace for Sharia" deal will work, and all are trying to figure out exactly what is going on here. None of the several previous peace deals with the Taliban have worked. The Taliban do not keep their end of the bargain, and openly call such peace deals a sign of government weakness (getting punked, to use a term even some young Taliban are familiar with.)




Swat Valley District, Pakistan (highlighted in yellow)


This is why we have seperation of Church and State.




Jolly Roger 14 out