Waziristan Tribes To Musharraf: It's On

Captain's Quarters: Waziristan Tribes To Musharraf: It's On

"Pro-Taleban militants in Pakistan's North Waziristan region say they have ended
their truce with the government.
In a statement issued in Miranshah, the main town, the militants accused the government of breaking the agreement.
It came as Pakistan deployed more troops in the area fearing 'holy war'
after the storming of the militant Red Mosque last week that left 102 dead.
More than 50 Pakistanis, including soldiers and police recruits, have died
in three attacks in the last two days."

Looks like the shaky and unproductive truce with the militants along the border with Afghanistan has fallen apart. I think this is a good thing, the truce was mostly one sided anyways, as the militants had not been keeping up their end of the agreement. I know that there are lots of innocent people who live in those tribal lands, and I know that the tribes themselves which have their own institutions are not the terrorists, but something needs to be done to flush the terrorists out. Information I have read inclines me to believe that the truce that was made between the government and the tribes wasn't broken by the tribes out of choice as much as fear. There is a group of terrorists that have taken hiding in the tribal areas, and it could be argued have taken the tribes hostage. If they cooperate with the government to much they are killed by the terrorists, if they cooperate with the terrorists too much the are targeted by the government. If we could tell Cain from Abel, I think we could arm Abel against Cain, but that is a big IF.