![\"AQIA\"](\"https:\/\/hcsblogdotorg.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/02\/aqia.jpg\")
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Al Qaeda and the Islamic State thrive in lawless and ungoverned spaces where there is no rule of law to keep them in check.\u00a0 Al Qaeda\u2019s home base in Pakistan\u2019s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) is the epitome of such a place, but the tide there has been turning against them over the last decade, as Pakistan slowly improves its reach into these historically ungoverned lands.\u00a0 Terrorist organizations cannot thrive where there is a functioning government, rule of law, courts, effective policing, etc.\u00a0 Yes, they can exist and function in first world countries, but they really don\u2019t thrive.<\/p>\n
On one of my early forays to Pakistan in 2003, we were encouraging the Pakistan military to go into the then notorious Shakai Valley, a remote place in the FATA that had become ground zero for al Qaeda senior leadership and other miscreants.\u00a0 For us in the intelligence community, the Shakai Valley was the root of all evil.\u00a0 After some coaxing, in May 2004, the Pakistan military went into the Shakai Valley for the first time to confront al Qaeda in an attack led from the air, quickly followed by boots on the ground.<\/p>\n
The evening of the attack, I was sitting with senior Pakistan military leaders drinking tea and congratulating them on the success of their foray into the FATA.\u00a0 They were glowing over their success, and there was almost a sense of disbelief in the room.\u00a0 Pakistan had taken the offensive, gone into the FATA, removed the terrorist threat, and then held its position overnight (and for a few subsequent days, or weeks). \u00a0Talking about the day\u2019s events, one Pakistani General, shaking his head in complete disbelief, told me that if I had asked him six months ago when he thought the Pakistan military would go into the FATA and take and hold land, he would have answered, \u201cIt won\u2019t happen in my lifetime\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n