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Well, without getting sucked into the whole "why are we in AF" thing, I will say that since we are already there, and since our departure would leave a huge vacum which the Taliban is already in place to fill, we are stuck working towards an alternative solution.
Remember the Taliban are an extremist organization which have always attempted to seize power wherever they can. They took Afghanistan several years after the Russians left and then imposed their brand of fundamental sharia law (much to the surprise of the average Afghan who supported them simply to cut down on corruption). They are doing the same in Pakistan now. They modify their rules and tenents to fit whatever is most expedient for them. When they were in power in Afghanistan, they considered opium and the opium smugglers to be a threat and clamped down on it, but they are now heavily involved in the drug trade.
Just as Mao did not really resonate with the Chinese people until he essentially rebranded Industrial Communism into something a rural farmer could recognize, the Taliban are beginning to enjoy more widespread success in PK now that they have begun adapting to the people around them and picking up causes which resonate with the local communities.
Right now, most of the senior insurgent leadership is operating out of PK and that is where the supplies, etc. are coming from. If they have their safe havens taken away they will be unable to continue to function.
The solution?
I don't really have a good answer for you. We have made a commitment to the Afghans who have staked their lives on our promise to help them create a new Afghanistan. At the same time it is definitely not in our best interest to hasten civil war in PK by invading the SWAT and NWFP and dealing with the problem ourselves.
I think if you loosened the rules of engagement again for SOF and allowed them to focus primarily on border interdictions you might be able to restrict the movement of men, weapons and supplies across the border enough to give the Afghan government time to become quasi-competent and strong enough to stand against the pressure of the Taliban.
Right now many officials are playing both sides of the fence because they (very likely correctly) believe we will end up pulling out and leaving them hanging high and dry. If they do not stay in good favor with the Taliban they will be executed as soon as we are gone. The solution there is obvious...make a strong commitment and show we are not going to abandon them. If we continue to sway back and forth on the issue we will never receive the full support of our Afghan allies. (or, alternatively we need to decide enough is enough and leave now.)
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"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." - Winston Churchill
"All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act out their dream with open eyes, to make it possible." Seven Pillars of Wisdom, T.E. Lawrence
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