Significant? Sure.

Lasting? About as long as Bristol Palin's pants stay on during a date.

as far as i am concerned, this is a sign of appeasement and will not work. Pakistan was listed #9 in the 'Failed States Index', and this might lower the Pakistanis score

Significant, but no real surprise to anyone who has follwed events in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Even here on RIA I would be surprised to hear someone say that invading Afghanistan back in 01 was the wrong thing to do. The problem as I see it was twofold: First, after letting Osama slip through our fingers, there seemed to be no clearly defined objective in Afghanistan. If it was simply to get the Taliban out of power, we achieved that. But with Iraq stealing all the headlines, this became something like a forgotten war where our only remaining job was to clean up resistence in the south. Either that or, as GTH seems to suggest, to turn the place into the 51st state.
The second SNAFU according to my Monday morning quarterbacking was Bush's belief that the Pakis would be our pals if we simply forgave 48 billion dollars in debt. Didn't work out that way.
I don't know that I would say Bush, and now Obama, have "imperialistic" aims there, but the region seems to be an endless morass. I don't think the US has enough ammo to change that.

This deal looms large in South Asia and drives another nail into the coffin of U. S. imperialistic aims in Afghanistan and the other "stans" in the area. It is not the military intrusion so much that infuriates the area, it is the Yankee meddling into the social norms of this rather primitive area.

Legend has it that as soon as the Taliban was toppled in Kabul, the USA put some Pushtu woman on television and radio to read the evening news. That seems a small thing but was an enormous insult to all concerned in the area. The reinstitution of Islamic Law has been one of the planks of the Taliban resistance and has a great deal of popularity. The deal in the Swat Valley noted in the heading of the posting includes the reintroduction Mohammedan Law into the area.

It is only a matter of time before Barack Hussein gets tired of attrition in Afghanistan and signs some kind of deal with the Taliban and skedaddles.

GTH predicts that we are not going to have many Gay Rights parades including Dykes on Bikes in that area any time soon.

This was a decisive defeat for the moderate government in Pakistan. They essentially had to accept Taliban control in this part of the country. Just as an aside, this used to be one of the biggest tourist attractions in all of Pakistan. Situated near the Himalayas, the Swat Valley used to be a major ski resort. Tensions in recent years however has decimated the tourism industry there. I'm sure the Taliban won't be encouraging much tourism!

This indicates that the Taliban is alive and strong in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Not only that, but it might demonstrate that there are elements of Pakistan's government, in their military and intelligence services specifically, that continue to empathize with the Taliban. Many believe that the prior and current government's of Pakistan could have easily prevented this takeover, but were unable to due to bureaucratic inaction. Essentially they let it happen.

I wouldn't call this a peace deal as much as a victory for the Taliban. While I think that the chances of the Taliban taking over Pakistan remains remote, the probability is still there, and that could mean plenty of trouble. Religious fanatics and nuclear weapons don't mix, and I'm sure that Pakistan's neighbors, both Iran and India, are not exactly enthusiastic about this prospect. This is one of the reasons why Iran is seeking to develop nuclear capabilities, as a hedge against their neighbors.