Safe Haven

The new Pakistani government is negotiating another agreement with the tribal leaders in South Waziristan (including Taleban leader Baitullah Mehsud.)

However, details emerged Wednesday of talks under way between the Pakistani government and leaders of the dominant Mehsud tribe in South Waziristan on an agreement in which the Pakistani army would pull out of the area and the government would release some militants from custody.....

Pakistan's army has as many as 30,000 troops in South Waziristan, Abbas said.

Look. This is a very tricky situation, and some sort of negotiated settlement is inevitable, but at the same time, much like Musharraf's agreements over a year ago, this would completely free up the Pakistani side of that border.

The last version of this was a disaster, and this agreement sounds even weaker.