Over the course of the last several days Taliban militants have gained control of the district of Buner, which is only 60 miles west of the Pakistan capital of Islamabad.
Buner has a population of approximately 1 million and lies just outside of Mardan, the region’s second largest city.

The Taliban have displayed their unchallenged power by taking control of the regions most important shrine, the shrine of Sufi saint Pir Baba. They are no longer letting women near the shrine.

Local officials in the region fear that if Mardan falls to Taliban militants, they will then have the momentum necessary to attempt toppling Islamabad.

This fear is manifest in the fact that from Buner the Taliban can easily access a four lane highway that would lead them directly to Islamabad.

This takeover by the Taliban comes less than two weeks after Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari made a peace deal with the Taliban that allowed for Shariah (Islamic) law to be carried out in the Swat Valley. This deal was made in hopes of quieting the militants in the Swat Valley, however the deal only worked for a short time. The Swat Valley was then where the militants launched their attacks and eventual take over of Buner.

The concession to allow Shariah law by the Pakistan President is described in Washington by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as what made the takeover in Buner possible.

Residents in the region also claim that the concession is the reason for the lack of resistance by the locals and local police.

At the same time Pakistani officials are pointing the finger back at the Pentagon in Washington, insisting that the relentless drone attacks in the Northwest made any peace deal impossible without major concessions.

Essentially the continuing drone attacks, which often had considerable collateral damage, left the Pakistani government with no reasonable bargaining power to hold over the Taliban.

Despite the fact that India is the closest democracy in the region, it has stated that while they plan to protect their borders from a spillover of violence, they have absolutely no plans to intervene in Pakistan.

So it seems as though the United States is now going to step in and work with Pakistani officials in Islamabad. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mike Mullen was in Islamabad today meeting with top Pakistani officials. It is likely that every attempt will be made to beat back the Taliban forces with Pakistani forces alone, but if that fails and the situation quickly escalates into the heart of Islamabad, there is not yet any indication just how the Obama administration will respond. The thought of a nuclear weapon in the hands of Taliban militants is sure to send a chill through the world community.

As a clear sign that the Taliban has every intention to push deeper into Pakistan, the Swat Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan put out a rallying cry calling all militants to the region that are interested in driving U.S. forces from the region.