Good news from the Pakistan/Afghanistan border in the mountainous tribal region currently playing host to both the resurgent Taliban and the quasi-defunct Osama bin Laden.

Locals say that a grand Jirga of eleven sub tribes of Orakzai tribe was held Friday at the Dabori area of the agency in which tribal elders and local religious scholars expressed their grave concern over the raising militancy in the tribal region.

The Jirga decided to unite and expel all foreign militants from the tribal agency and help the military to regain control over the security checkposts earlier occupied by militants of the Pakistan Taliban Movement.

It’s not always easy to unite against the growing power of the Taliban however.  They have grown increasingly strong in the last few years, insulated and untouchable amongst the Pashtuns.  The Pakistani government is basically impotent without tribal cooperation, so this could come as a major turning point on that front.

So far, 250 tribal elders have been killed by different militant groups in FATA. Most of the slain tribal elders were supporting government agencies against the Taliban. Some reports suggest that a large number of tribal elders also migrated to other parts of the country due to fear of a Taliban backlash in the past.

This is similar to the situation on the ground in Iraq, until sheiks there finally took a stand against foreign fighters and al Qaeda.  Speaking of those sheiks–

Sheik Ahmad al-Rishawi has studied the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan and believes he can help lead a rebellion against al-Qaeda and the Taliban in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, and wants to fight alongside Americans to put his plans into action.

I say, if the rest of the world is unwilling to throw its weight behind America in Afghanistan and finally, once and for all, put an end to the Afghani peoples suffering there, then we need more sheiks like Ahmad al-Rishawi.

Kain's major subjects of focus at NeoConstant are international strategy; support of Israel; the failure of the international community to stop genocide; the spread of American power and democracy; historical analysis; and current events both domestically and abroad. He writes here, Newsvine and his blog, IndiePundit.