Taliban Rule in Pakistan

To whom it may concern,

The new Pakistani government has now deemed it necessary to release control of the Swat Valley in the North-West Frontier Province to Taliban sharia law. I am almost lost for words, seriously! With the world behind us, we start this war on terror by pushing the Taliban out of Afghanistan, where they subsequently retreat to a lawless territory in Pakistan. Then Pakistan ostensibly gives them safe haven in their country. And we all know that this area is and will continue to be used to conduct raids on American and NATO troops in Afghanistan and god knows what else. It is severely disappointing to know that the staging ground for the enemy in the Afghanistan war is now legitimately in the hands of the Taliban. This is a complete breakdown in diplomacy and I am flabbergasted over how America and the world seemed to just let this happen. Accepting this new reality, we might as well let the ethnic Pashtun Taliban declare independence, ignite a civil war in Pakistan, and then blow them off the map as well (the Taliban, not Pakistan)! So, does this mean that cross-border attacks by US troops and warplanes will increase without the concern of Pakistan's territorial integrity?

GUNNAR HAND, AICP