When I first saw the headline "Radical Islamists No Longer Welcome in Pakistani Tribal Areas", I thought that this article in the McClatchy papers would show how much better things have gotten in Pakistan. I was wrong.
These people in the tribal areas bordering Pakistan are really getting hurt by both sides. Although they rebuffed the Islamists in the recent election, the locals are still getting killed and maimed by them and by the battles between the Islamists and the government.
Islamists have forbidden girls to attend school. To make their point they cut off the head of a female teacher. The government seems to condone this behavior as long as the government is not criticized.
On the other side of the coin you have a tribal leader saying, "If you have a friend like the United States, then you have no need for an enemy". His comments are driven by the actions of our forces trying to kill the Taliban stationed in Pakistan; in most cases, civilians rather than Taliban are killed.
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