VCheng
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The problem is not so much the lack of media access in the conflict zone (again, see my previous comment about the odds being stacked heavily against the TTP in a controlled conflict zone such as NW) as it is about whether the civilian administration will be able to step in when the IDP's return and earn the support of the majority. That support will be critical for both military and non-military counter-terrorism efforts in a zone that will no longer be governed by the RoE's that are currently in place.
The military has demonstrated the success of a similar strategy in Swat, but Swat was/is more progressive than most parts of FATA from a socio-cultural perspective and more integrated, ideologically and tangibly, with Pakistan/Pakistani Nationhood. FATA, post IDP return, will be significantly more challenging, not because of a failure of the military strategy, but because there appears to be no strategy in place to establish local civilian-led institutions that can govern and provide services in conjunction with the military providing macro-level security.
The military has made sure that civilian authority remains ineffectual, having persistently undermined it for decades, all over the country. So what will happen here will again be a demonstration of the same.