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Byline: Ron Moreau; With Zahid Hussain
Score another win for Pakistan's extremists. Last week the Taliban extended their control into the country's heartland when the government signed a one-sided peace deal that gave in to the radicals' demands--not in the remote tribal wilds, as with most past bargains, but in the verdant Swat Valley, a onetime tourist destination only 160 kilometers from Islamabad. The government gets a ceasefire and a shaky promise of peace. The militants get the imposition of Sharia in the region. And secular Pakistan suffers another setback.
The agreement leaves jihadist forces in control of some 70 percent of the district that once was home to 1.5 million people, ratifying gains won through a terror campaign. Over the past year, the insurgents have killed more than 70 policemen and 150 ...