Greg Baker / AP Phto
As the Pakistani government's deal with the Taliban in the Swat Valley unravels, a full-blown refugee crisis is developing. The U.N. reports that 2,200 families are already registered at refugee camps, and that assistance will be available for 6,000 more. As it turns out, the Taliban's promise to lay down their weapons in return for the institution of sharia law in some of Pakistan's western provinces never worked out as planned. The Taliban, emboldened by the government's pacifist stance, only amped up its terrorizing of the local populace. Inexplicably, the Pakistani government continues to vacillate between talks of peace and taking the fight to the Taliban. Experts are concerned that the refugee camps may become fertile recruitment grounds for radicals. As one frustrated refugee at a camp told The Washington Post, "I feel like I have lost my mind. I work hard to make a respectable life and educate my children. Now we are living in a camp, and my sons are talking of guns."