Every time Pakistan hammered out peace agreements with militants, the results were disastrous. The groups grew stronger, and the toll their bomb blasts took on civilians steadily rose.
That history explains why anxiety is rippling through the country as talk builds of the prospect for peace negotiations with the Pakistani Taliban, the homegrown insurgency responsible for most of the suicide bombings and terrorist strikes that have killed thousands of people in recent years.
Pakistani leaders have expressed a newfound interest in tackling the problem of militancy through peace talks rather than military confrontation. At a Sept. 29 conference of more than 50 political leaders, participants signed a resolution endorsing the idea of negotiations with militants. ” ‘Give peace a chance’ must be the guiding central principle,” the resolution declared…
“It’s pretty clear it would be a bad idea,” said Cyril Almeida, a columnist for Dawn, a leading English-language newspaper in Pakistan. “Past peace agreements gave the militants breathing room and space to enlarge their control. And there’s no reason to expect that this time, if they pursue another deal, that the result would be any different.”
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