I haven't a frickin' clue what will happen or what the Pakistani gov't can do to push back against the Taliban, but the possibility of Pakistan's gov't falling to radical elements, isn't academic.
In the last few days the Pakistani Taliban has essentially taken control of Buner district. Under a recent peace deal with the Pakistani gov't, the Taliban agreed to lay down arms against the gov't in exchange for control of the Swat region. They didn't abide by the conditions for a moment before attacking key targets in the Buner region. Here's an article about that:
Taliban consolidates Buner Valley hold
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, April 11 (UPI) -- Taliban forces in northwestern Pakistan have consolidated their hold on the Buner Valley, taking control of new areas there, witnesses said.
Government security forces offered no resistance as militants occupied the houses of community leaders who were organizing an anti-Taliban group, Pakistan's English-language newspaper Dawn reported Saturday.
"They have taken control of vast areas in Buner," a man who lives near the shrine of Pir Baba told Dawn. "They are freely moving around while police and other law-enforcement personnel remain confined to their posts," he said, adding that the militants had broken a promise to leave Buner after holding marches there.
Witnesses said the Taliban militants set fire to television sets, pictures, paintings, and audio and video cassettes before holding Friday prayers, also locking Pir Baba shrine, stopping its followers from visiting the place, the newspaper reported.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/04/11/Taliban-consolidates-Buner-Valley-hold/UPI-97671239468159/Here's another article, published today, indicating that the Taliban has made advances in Buner over the past 10 days.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hkiMxbHNH0BqgpWA2ZG6VD6wVTmAD97NF3380 So what happens if the Pakistani gov't falls to radicals? What will India do? What will Europe's response be? The U.S. response? Does Pakistan falling to radicals pose a danger to the U.S., or only to American interests in the region?
Should the Pakistani gov't declare their peace deal with the Taliban void? Do they have the capacity to deal with the Taliban militarily?