Historical causes for the Taliban's wins in Swat.

Finally, an article today in the NYTimes with a little depth and history on HOW and WHY the Taliban were able to coax people to their side in Swat, Pakistan. (No offense to Dexter Filkins, bc I know you are reading, who has written great articles on what is going on NOW on the ground in Afghanistan and Pakistan.) Sure some of the cajoling is force, but a lot of it, according to this article, has to do with the fact that the the majority of the local population is disenfranchised peasants with no chance for upward mobility living under the social, economic and political control of wealthy landowners.

To takeover Swat, "...the militants organized peasants into armed gangs that became their shock troops, the residents, government officials and analysts said."

This was possible because, "Unlike India after independence in 1947, Pakistan maintained a narrow landed upper class that kept its vast holdings while its workers remained subservient, the officials and analysts said. Successive Pakistani governments have since failed to provide land reform and even the most basic forms of education and health care. Avenues to advancement for the vast majority of rural poor do not exist."

So the, "Sunni militancy is taking advantage of deep class divisions that have long festered in Pakistan..." They are not just "...promising more than just proscriptions on music and schooling" the are also "...promising Islamic justice, effective government and economic redistribution” which is appealing to the disenfranchised impoverished peasants.