"Rather the people who are perceived by the locals as being able to do that can expect to get such support."

I don't think so Kevin not after decades of nothing but war and terror. The ISAF and US Forces enter an area and things get better, if and when the Taleban move back in things get worse, people get killed in bizarre fashion to "teach the others a lesson" then the Taleban get driven out and again things immediately improve. The five additional brigades plus the increasing strength of the Afghan Army mean that the occasions where ISAF and US Forces enter an area then withdraw will get less and less.

"However it seems all too likely the perception of very may will be that the people most likely to achieve that are "the Taliban". And this ceasefire in Swat is the kind of thing that will strengthen that perception. It may turn out to be disastrously wrong, but that doesn't change it at this stage."

The people know full well after the best part of six years suffering under the Taleban what their rule will mean - Fear and abject terror, particularly if you are a woman. Those in Swat who could flee have fled the area, the public executions and punishments are now the main "entertainment".

The Taleban in Swat need the cease-fire to regroup, reorganise and rearm. Three Predator Strikes recently two in Pakistan and one in western Afghanistan. In Pakistan 36 Taleban and Al-Qaeda militants killed and in Afghanistan 12 Taleban killed - Who do you think is providing the target information Kevin?? Oh by the bye no claims at all about those killed being "civilians" in one of the strikes in Pakistan 25 killed were all "foreign fighters" Uzbeks and Chechens.