As per my previous post, I imagine the deal being brokered would look a little something like this:

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25064422-12377,00.html

"THE Pakistan Government and Islamic hardliners have signed an agreement to enforce sharia law in the northwestern Swat valley, a provincial minister says."

... "All laws against sharia will be abolished and sharia will be enforced under this justice system."

Sancho wrote:

"I think it's more likely than not that the subcontinent will be a radioactive wasteland within my lifetime."

I guess it boils down to this. Could a Taliban controlled Pakistan be deterred by the threat of nuclear retaliation?

Or would they go for a "nuclear Mumbai?"

For that matter, would they try for a nuclear 9 / 11 or a nuclear "7 / 7" as the London bombings are called.

I don’t know the answer to that one. On the one hand, risking annihilation in order to nuke New York, London or Mumbai seems crazy.

But bombing a girls' school also seems crazy.

And therein lies the problem. If the Taliban really do appear crazy then that could drive other governments to do crazy things in order to deny them a nuclear strike capability.

TRTL

Yep that looks like the kind of deal that could be struck. But I think it would be an unstable situation. Governments in Islamabad are so corrupt and inept I doubt they could keep up their end of the deal. The Taliban could end up in control of Pakistan almost by default.

Another possibility is the rise of "Pashtunistan" encompassing the Pashtun regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Let's face it, neither Pakistan nor Afghanistan are poster boys for multiculturalism. Much of the fighting is actually ethnic. So severing the Pashtuns from the rest of Pakistan and Afghanistan makes a sort of sense.

DreamOn

I have no idea what, if anything, your post has to do with the topic of this thread.

Whichever way you look at it, the prospect of the Taliban acquiring a nuclear strike capability could destabilise the whole of Asia if not the world. Even if the US does not act, can anyone believe India would stand idly by if it really seemed that the Taliban were likely to get their hands on Pakistan's nuclear arsenal