Red agencies/ districts controlled by the Taliban; purple is defacto control; yellow is under threat.

As the situation in Pakistan continues to deteriorate, the Pakistani government continues its charade of negotiations with the Taliban. Last week's sophisticated suicide strike and ambush against returning former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto not only came close to killing her; it was the largest terrorist attack inside Pakistan to date. Over 136 were killed and 500 wounded.

The Pakistani government has followed up this affront by extending its hand to the Taliban and Gulbadin Hekmartyr, the brutal, murderous Afghan warlord allied with al Qaeda. The Daily Times, a Pakistani newspaper with a strong track record in following the developments in the tribal regions and the Northwest Frontier Province, reports:

“It is hoped that representatives of the Taliban and former Afghan prime minister Gulbuddin Hikmatyar Khan will attend the next jirga,” MNA Munir Khan Orakzai told Gulf Times on Wednesday, referring to the Pak-Afghan jirga scheduled for November.

He said credible sources had indicated that the Taliban and other militant groups were ready to sit down and talk. He said a lasting solution to the “growing menace of Talibanisation” could only be achieved after taking all concerned parties, including the Taliban, into confidence.

Pakistan has been down the "peace" path numerous times in the past year. The result has been the Taliban and al Qaeda takeover of North and South Waziristan, Mohmand, Bajaur and Swat, with multiple tribal agencies and settled districts either unofficially under Taliban control or strongly influenced by the Taliban. Multiple terror attacks against the West, India, and Pakistan itself have been launched from the Northwest Frontier Province, but Pakistan continues to cave in to demands for negotiations.

I was asked what needed to be done for the Taliban and al Qaeda to be uprooted from their safe havens in the Northwest Frontier Province and beyond. The solution is not easy, and very likely is not politically feasible. But the only way the Taliban and al Qaeda can be denied their sanctuary is to conduct a full scale counterinsurgency campaign.