"Some tribal leaders say they have little choice but to fight their brothers, cousins and neighbors," The Washington Post reported on Nov. 11 after touring the carnage in Bajaur. "The Pakistani military, they say, has threatened to bomb their villages if they do not battle the Taliban." The Pakistani military has followed through on these threats on several occasions.
(...) The military has also threatened to destroy homes of the tribes in the Mohmand tribal agency if they fail to expel the Taliban. "We warn the Mohmand tribes to sever ties with Tehreek-e-Taliban’s Abdul Wali group as the government is planning action against the group," the Mohmand Agency administration warned the population in pamphlets, according to a report in Daily Times. "Get all elements of Abdul Wali group out of your homes, otherwise they will be targeted by helicopters and jet bombers."
(...) "But in the long run, Pakistan is alienating the people they are supposed to be protecting. Unless Pakistan is willing to conduct a ruthless, protracted campaign against its own people, like the Russians did in Chechnya, destroying everything and everyone in its path, this will fail," the official said. "And I see no indication Pakistan has the political will to go the way of the Russians in Chechnya."
(...) “The potential for blowback in the tribal areas and beyond is enormous,” said the officer. “We could never have made the Anbar tribes to fight al Qaeda. It was never about guns, money, or power. The Anbar tribes fought for survival. The Pakistani tribes will fight for survival too, but in this case, they likely will see the government as the oppressor.”