Religious militancy is one thing but taking control over areas and bringing them under your own rule and subjecting the people to your own rule is another. Religious militants in Punjab have not declared Shariah law in Bhakkar or Bahawalpur.
Religious militancy in south asia is not decades old its centuries old. Excessive violence in the name of religion has been quite common for many centuries.
Its easy blaming dictators for whats going on but the democratically elected people would have behaved no differently. I dont think the PPP, MQM, ANP, PML-Q would have dared going against USA policy. Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan try to talk the talk but can they walk the walk?
The democratically elected government in pakistan and NWFP have made no improvement what-so-ever. Some would argue its got much worse - actually disagree as suicide bombings are less in number than this time last year.
Zia ul Haq can be blamed for the spread of guns but it was individuals who brought them willingly because weapons and violence are glamourised within every society of Pakistan.
As for the whole Taliban in pakistan issue - it would have only been less of a problem if the borders were not so open.
It is individuals who follow blindly what others say and lead them down a dark alley. being gullible is not a crime or a bad thing but it can get you into alot of trouble. Sadly there are far more people in NWFP gullible to whichever Mad Mullah stands up than within the Punjab. Its not that they are wrong - its just that those who they have made the enemy are much stronger than they can ever imagine. Sad fact is that some of these Mad Mullahs actually speak the truth - what right do the Americans have being in Afghanistan? Its just that they are not the ones controlling the media so they find their case a bit harder to put across.
They are not planning attacks on the USA from Multan or Lahore. This is the problem - it is the USA and its policies. The USA believes it can bomb the taliban or anyone else into submission. If the USA wants change the the only way it will get that is stop interfering negatively in other countries or start interfering positively ie giving people more facilities. Even then I dont think the USA will ever be viewed by Muslims as a friendly country. But the Americans have set their sights on NWFP and thats what matters. Where they will end up next its easy to predict - another region of pakistan or another muslim country
The problem with draining the swamp is that it leads all the way to Washington and Al-qaeda believe they are going to drain that swamp. Washington believes the swamp exists on the Afghan-Pakistan border and it believes by bombing the area they will subjugate the people to their own will.
In Swat many of the locals - probably not even 1/3 welcomed the Taliban and without resistance caved in. The Kohistanis rejected the Taliban and the Taliban did not annoy them again.
It is not Islamabad who blames the FATA but Washington and whatever Washington says is obeyed. Islamabad wants to keep the Taliban in power in Afghanistan to keep India in check.