A civilian government is now fully in power in the country. One wonders: without Musharraf there to unite them in angry opposition, will the governing coalition hold. One would like to be hopeful, but given a history of alternating military dictatorships and crumbling democratic coalitions it is not easy. Certainly, one would not expect this government to be militarily more assertive against Islamic extremism than the recently departed general.

In the meantime, resurgent extremists have been destroying girls' schools, eighty-seven schools in total, with another sixty-two schools closed by frightened teachers. Maulana Fazlullah, the chief of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, based in the Swat Valley, called female education "a source of obscenity," and ordered girls to go home and don the burka. In the past two weeks alone extremists reduced twenty-eight girls' schools to rubble.

Yet at this moment something very different and notable is also happening. What's more, the activity is concentrated near Bajaur, cited as the most likely place for Osama bin Laden to have taken refuge. Let me say first that any instance of displaced populations is itself a tragedy, likely an indication of many untold tragedies; but in this instance it is likely also the first sign of a government pushback. The Australian reports this:

"ISLAMABAD: A human tide of more than 300,000 civilians has fled the al-Qa'ida badlands, amid indications that the fighting there has reached unprecedented levels, with the Pakistani army using massive firepower to attack jihadi militant strongholds. Helicopter gunships, fixed-wing strike aircraft, tanks and heavy artillery have been used in the onslaught."