might make it easier to conduct covert operations...
Forget covert, I'm thinking overt -- if Pakistan declares that this region is no longer a part of Pakistan, but an independent state, what's to stop the US or other allied force from invading?
I speculated something similar on Wretchard's Belmont Club: turning the area over to the locals and removing the Pakistani military gives the government some cover for not stopping our hot pursuit of terrorists from Afghanistan and our covert operations in the area. By abandoning responsibility, it makes the locals responsible for what happents to them: don't want to be attacked? Don't harbor Taliban terrorists.
simple math question....what is a crapload of terrorists in one location, divided by a single B-52 strike with 25 fully loaded aircraft equal?
Exactly. Makes it easy to drop a Daisy Cutter!