You should look up how malaysia deals with muslim extremists and it has worked extremely well. A lot of "insurgents" are just frustrated youth from extremely poor backgrounds with nothing to lose. No different from youth joining gangs, a lot of it has to do with lack of economic opportunity. It's not a simple "good vs bad," the results of "treating insurgents" harshly hasn't really worked out has it? there's such a huge international against extrajudicial killings and imprisonment aka gitmo.
I'm highly skeptical about the number of FATA residents who want the taliban out. If they wanted the taliban out, the locals would have already driven them away in the first place. It's a very very tricky issue dealing with tribal areas, lot's of mixed loyalties.
That's true, but the radical clerics spearheading the movement are not, and they are the ones being targeted.
Furthermore, the situation in Malaysia is quite different. The reason violent extremism isn't really coming out of there to the same extent it is elsewhere is primarily because Malaysians don't really have any political incentive to attack the West. The US hasn't really attacked Malaysia nor has their foreign policy really done anything with Malaysia. As such, disaffected youth are much easier to dissuade from extremism because it's harder for a cleric to give them a reason to turn to violence. Youth in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq etc. turn to violent extremism more readily due to proximity to the "frontlines" (so to speak) as well as other political motivations that clerics can appeal to in efforts to brainwash them.
And no, the locals wouldn't have driven them away already lol, the Pakistani military is quite strong and if they are incapable of driving out the Taliban, do you think a bunch of tribesmen will? Particularly when many people in positions of power in these tribes are on the side of the taliban?
