File this under "Camel's nose under the tent"

The new government of Pakistan has caved in to Taliban demands to impose sharia law in northwest Pakistan. I predict that this will not be the end of such demands in Pakistan, and that within 4 or 5 years, Pakistan will be mostly, or entirely, under sharia law.

The Taliban is expressly motivated by the desire to see sharia imposed everywhere. Their success in getting what they want will only embolden them to demand more, and the government doesn't appear to have the resolve to refuse their demands. Neither, it seems, do most of the people. A teacher quoted in the article sums it up best: "We just want to see an end to this bloody fighting. We do not mind what way it comes. It is no problem if it comes through the Islamic system." Those were the exact same sentiments that helped bring the Taliban to power in Afghanistan.

Mark it: in 4 or 5 years, Pakistan will be pretty much what Afghanistan was 9 years ago.