To me, the greatest insights into the minds of those who live in the FATA were the words of a village elder there to one of our guys during the first operation of the Pakistani military up into that region back in 2002:
"You must appreciate, we really do not like the government forces coming up into our territory; but you we do not mind, because you are here for revenge...and revenge we understand."
But this was back when Pakistan was a largely stable country, and the government forces largely restricted their activities to the Indus River valley.
Bookmarks