Can U.S. trust Pakistan to control the Taliban?

It doesn’t take a Zbigniew Brzezinski or a Henry Kissinger to know that Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari is playing with fire with his appeasement policy toward the Taliban.

The Islamic extremists are determined to establish theocratic governments similar to Iran’s throughout the Muslim world.

Yet, Zardari, who leads a democratically elected administration in Islamabad, invited the Taliban to take control of the Swat Valley region in the Northwest Frontier Province. Sharia, or Islamic law, is now the order of the day.

As we warned in an editorial Feb. 21, “If the president believes that such appeasement will cause the Taliban to abandon their goal of setting up an Islamic theocracy in Islamabad, he’s in for a surprise. Ever since the Islamic extremists fled Afghanistan, in the face of the military invasion in 2001 led by the United States, and established camps in the mountain region of Pakistan, tribal chieftains have provided them with a safe haven.”

Last week, the intentions of the Taliban militants were clearly demonstrated when they forcefully took control of a district on the outskirts of Pakistan’s capital.

The Obama administration, along with governments throughout Europe and even the Middle East reacted with grave concern. The reason: Pakistan has nuclear weapons and the ability to deliver them deep into India, its arch rival, and as far away as Israel.

With such weapons in the hands of Islamic extremists — the Taliban has joined forces with Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida terrorist organization — the entire Middle East will be in jeopardy.

By Friday, the militants had packed up their grenade launchers and returned to the Swat Valley region. They may have been reacting to a warning from the government of a retalia- tory attack and the cancellation of the agreement on Swat.

Ignoring reality

But to show just how blind Pakistani officials are to the reality that is the Taliban, consider this comment from Syed Mohammed Javed, the top government administrator in the region:

“No need to worry; they all are on their way back. We told them that we have a deal, we have a peace agreement. Our concern was that no official or private building remained in their control and nobody was allowed to publicly display weapons.”

The Pakistani administrator is wrong: There is reason to worry.

The ease with which the militants were able to overrun and take control of Buner will serve only to embolden Islamic extremists. It is clear that they do not fear the government of President Zardari, who has refused to take the necessary military steps to rid the mountainous border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan of the Taliban and al-Qaida. Indeed, bin Laden and members of his inner circle are said to be holed up in the area and are being protected by tribal chieftains.

The United States and its allies, especially in the Middle East, can no longer sit back and depend on Pakistan to do what is necessary to make the country safe from extremists.

It is understandable that President Zardari is reluctant to use an iron fist, considering that elements within his government are supportive of the creation of an Islamic theocracy. But, as the attack on Buner showed, his political future is shaky, at best.

Giving his government $1.5 million in aid each year to battle terrorism is not the answer. Pakistan needs to be rid of extremists, just as Afghanistan was in 2001.