Reply #3: How Pakistan reacts... [View All]

...to Talibanisation will answer that.

I'm happy this deal is ending. Giving into the mullahs through legal means is a terrible thing.

Yes, it means a potentially long war with no end in sight. And most Pakistanis would like to avoid that. But there are a couple of recent factors that may change that attitude:

- First, the historic people's involvement is restoring the Chief Justice of Pakistan shows that Pakistanis are not apathetic. They can get involved if needed.

- Second, the backlash against Talibanization is beginning. When people started realizing what Nizam-e-Adl (the sharia styled laws that were to implemented in Swat) would do to basic human rights, lots of conservative Muslims were appalled (please note: conservative does not equal fundamentalist). The images of the girl being flogged had a huge effect on people. It's a very tiny backlash right now, and most people may not even realize it's happening, but it's there.

Pakistan can give in, or continue to fight. The US chose to fight to save the Union, rather than let slavery and secessionism succeed. Sri Lanka has chosen to fight Tamil rebels rather than given in to demands of a separate homeland.

Giving in to the mullahs, even on one inch of land, will cement Pakistan's status as a failed state. Fighting it, and winning it (militarily and psychologically) will change that status.