"Everyone Here Is Happy With The Taliban"

(CBS)

So began CBS News' interview with the man in charge of the Pakistani Taliban's latest territorial expansion.

Swat Valley is a picturesque region surrounded by high mountains in northern Pakistan. The government

(CBS)

In response, Pakistani leaders moved six paramilitary platoons into the district.

"The orders to the military units are to seize control of Buner at any cost," one Pakistani official told CBS News' Farhan Bokhari.

Pakistani officials wouldn't say exactly how many troops were sent to Buner, but a platoon typically consists of between 30 and 50. So, a generous estimate puts 300 additional security personnel in the district, which covers 720 square miles of rugged terrain — Los Angeles, by comparison, covers about 500 square miles.

Khalil-ur-Rehman (seen at top shaking hands with locals), the chief Taliban commander in Buner, didn't seem concerned by the government's move to stem the spread of his fundamentalist Islamic movement in Pakistan.

"By the grace of God, the Taliban are now in control of Buner," he told CBS News.

He said most of the militants who came to the district from Swat had returned, because their work was done. "Only a few remain here to preach true Islam."

"True Islam," according to the Taliban, means strict adherence to Shariah, or Islamic law. Shariah is an ancient and extensive set of rules, derived predominantly from Islam's holy book, the Quran, which govern every aspect of society — from financial transactions to spousal rights and duties.

Many Westerners are repulsed at rules which can condemn a woman to a brutal public flogging if she's "convicted" by a local cleric or Shariah official of committing adultery.

"We preach Prophet Mohammad's Shariah the way it is supposed to be, and if someone thinks it's not okay then he or she is not a Muslim, and yes, lashing is a part of Islamic punishment," said Rehman.

But in Buner, like many other parts of Pakistan, the federal government has never held enough sway to maintain law and order, leaving the populace susceptible to crime. The politicians have also done little to bolster the infrastructure or provide social services in remote areas like Buner.

Into that vacuum, the Taliban stepped very easily. Rehman said "a few locals" tried to band together to fight the militant group's advance, "but they all ran away."

By many others, the Taliban have been welcomed in Buner, as they were in Swat.

"Everyone here is happy with the Taliban," one local man in Buner told CBS News. "The only people who are unhappy are the thieves, murderers and criminals. There is no Muslim in the world who would be unhappy with the Islamic way of life."

The man, who asked not to be named, said he doubted the government would take serious action against Taliban rule in Buner. "In case they do, we have the right to defend ourselves."

His use of the word "we" in the interview was telling.

Another man echoed the sentiment.

"The Taliban are our brothers and we are very happy that they are here," said Omer Khitab. "Taliban came from Swat and they went back, and now only a few remain who are Aalims (preachers), all the rest of the Taliban are locals from Buner."

The fundamentalist movement's ability to win hearts and minds in this country is the biggest problem facing Pakistan's leaders, and their hesitant backers in Washington.

In Iraq, the U.S. was able to win over many local Sunnis, who joined the fight against a violent al Qaeda-linked militancy seen by many Iraqis as foreign invaders happy to bomb innocents.

That is not the case in Pakistan, as reflected by Khitab's statement that most of the Taliban in Buner are "locals."

Dismantling a growing de-facto state within their own borders will be much more difficult for Pakistan's political leadership — if they even decide to make such an effort. The six platoons sent to Buner is not evidence of a serious change in policy from the appeasement thus far espoused by Islamabad.

(CBS)

Everything said by Taliban leaders to the media is a variable combination of propaganda, utter nonsense and bits of truth, and Rehman was undoubtedly overstating the warm welcome he and his fighters received.

Pakistani government officials told the AP on Friday that militants were starting to leave their base in Buner, as Rehman and the local residents told CBS. It's difficult to say whether they're actually leaving because they feel comfortable that local fundamentalists will carry on their work, or because of the paramamilitary forces sent to the region.

But if Pakistan's leaders have begun to accept that large sections of their country are going to be ruled by Islamic fundamentalists — that presents a very difficult reality for President Obama.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said earlier this week that Pakistan's leaders were "basically abdicating to the Taliban and to the extremists."

She urged Pakistanis to "speak out forcefully against a policy that is ceding more and more territory."

The Pakistanis we spoke to in Buner, at least, make that seem an unlikely solution.