THIS WILL SEEM BRUTALLY CALLOUS BUT...

perhaps the killings of the tribal elders in Pakistan will help turn the locals against Al Qaeda as it seems to have done in Anbar Province. (see also here) I noted this before and I recall reading that well over 100 elders have been killed. The LA Times has an article about how well the extremists are doing in Pakistan and partially confirms that number:

Once established, the militants have slain or threatened hundreds of these tribal leaders in a campaign that U.S. officials say has seriously undermined counter-terrorism efforts....The State Department official estimated that 120 to 140 senior tribal leaders were killed in Pakistan, many in the last 18 months.

Laura Bush made a sneak visit to Afghanistan to tout how well things are going but the LAT article lets us know that we've dropped the ball again:

Of the billions of dollars spent, little has gone toward counter-insurgency efforts such as working with tribal leaders to determine how to help their constituents, according to U.S., Pakistani and Afghan officials.

As a result, they say, Al Qaeda and the Taliban are doing a far better job of expanding their insurgency than the United States and its allies are of trying to stop it.