Q's assumption that the Taleban speak for all Pasthun in Afghanistan or in the NWFTA of Pakistan is, I believe, a false assumption.

The people who can bring peace, stability and prosperity to the area will get the backing of the people of those areas.

The fact that there are foreign troops in Afghanistan does not act as a "Recruiting Sergeant" for the Taleban - their recruiting is much more direct. They enter a village round up the men and say fight for us or die - that's one of the reasons they have not been too sucessful when it comes to direct confrontation and why they have gone back to placing bombs, using car bombs and suicide bombers.

They now can only recruit heavy weapons teams in Pakistan, most are ex-Pakistan Army and are are very good, but like the Highlanders of old they tend to duck back o'er the border with the onset of winter - makes it very difficult for the Taleban to sustain any real effort - and each time, if they make the effort, the return trip gets more and more dangerous. But they're getting hit on the "safe" side of the border now, with greater frequency.

The other statistic that never ever seems to come up relates to "civilian" casualties in Afghanistan - 80% of those killed are killed by the Taleban.

The Taleban have announced a cease-fire for one reason and one reason only - They need time to regroup and rearm. pakistan has I believe at last woken up to the danger lurking within its borders. The Government of Pakistan and it's armed forces are going to have to deal with this problem because it is not going to go away.