"Mingora: Five personnel of security forces were beheaded in the restive Swat valley on Tuesday" (published in a local newspaper of January 8). This headline has served to bring the situation in the northern areas into a sharp focus, showing the harsh reality of the conditions in Swat which was till recently one of the most peaceful and beautiful areas in the North of Pakistan. Maulana Fazlullah hitherto an unknown mullah of a small mosque in Mingora established a clandestine radio station in Swat, and started his broadcasts which were initially, mildly religious, and in a short period of time, built up an audience. When his transmitters were seized he moved on and started afresh. A radio station is probably the easiest to detect and to eliminate. In the Second World War broadcasting behind enemy lines was practiced by all sides. However the detection in peacetime is very easy, and can be pinpointed by the most rudimentary and inexpensive equipment, so the GOP's inability to shut down Maulana Radio is not understandable. The operation of a radio station which is not under government control is not allowed in any country. Nowhere. The primary reason being that its power to subvert the government of the day is well understood, and that is why the airwaves are so jealously guarded, and strictly controlled - in every country, and the penalties for breaking the broadcasting laws are very severe. Maulana Radio proved that starting with one radio station he has succeeded in destabilising a large portion of the State of Swat. It is not understandable why the Government of Pakistan has not been able to succeed in the elimination of this clandestine radio station, which is not only breaking the laws of Pakistan, is not only issuing threats, but also sending goons to follow up on his threats. Not to mention drumming up donations for its operations. Till he has succeeded in controlling almost all of this once beautiful state. It is incredible that this has been achieved in the 21st century in Pakistan. The spread of his vicious control, culminating yesterday in the beheading of five Pakistani security officials, a truly monstrous crime. This is the most recent of the atrocities committed by militants in Pakistan, against Pakistanis. Mullah FM is a completely homegrown fanatic compared to the other militants who are part of the remnants of the Russo/Afghan war. These soldiers of misfortune were left without an enemy to battle against, till 9/11 and the fury of the American revenge on an unwitting Afghanistan. These poor people were bombed into the dark ages from which they had never really emerged. In fact the Afghans have been punished for their years of pillaging India into being ravaged by first the Russians and then the Americans till, today it is a land of rubble. They have been turned into a highly effective fighting force without an enemy on the ground - till the arrival of George W Bush with his spillover of the Iraq misadventure. And now we too have been thrown unwittingly into the frontline of a battle between a unipolar US, against all comers, using the latest sci-fi weapons including pilotless drones which can see in the dark, and better, shoot accurately in the dark. Pakistan was bludgeoned into the war under the 'with me or against me George Bush doctrine'. With the Bush era now drawing to a close, the President-elect Obama has seen the rapid decline of the American dream, the leadership of the free world crumbling due to the insane policies of Bush. Unfortunately for Pakistan we are left with a highly trained and motivated group of militants courtesy Charley Wilson's CIA, with suicide bombers as an arm that they use to great effect. We, and the Indians are now the joint targets against this force that is in control of most of Afghanistan and the North of Pakistan. It is in our combined interest that we join in neutralising this menace. While the Indian Muslim community has not allowed the burial of the Mumbai bombers in Muslim graveyards, where the Pakistani suicide bombers in Pakistan although declared kafirs by the ulema in Pakistan, are still being allowed the privilege of burials in Muslim graveyards. When in fact suicide is a sin and the kafir is not allowed Islamic rites here or in the hereafter, a fact conveniently hidden from the suiciders, by their handlers. The US can easily get up and walk away (as they are prone to do). We are here, so we must form a joint strategy. Enough of RAW meddling in our north, through the use of Afghan mercenaries, which have been in evidence for sixty years. The Mumbai bombings and the Swat beheadings should show both of us that the common enemy is the militancy that has spread its tentacles, and is now busy in its evil acts and stands poised, to strike anywhere in the whole of the subcontinent. The sooner the two governments decide to recognise the common enemy, the better for all concerned. With the US as the common denominator we may just win, but it will be a long struggle. The writer is a political analyst