Though declared by the rebels as a "state" or "emirate", there are questions whether the region being should be called such. Those who support that the region is a state point to the facts that the federal government has little to no power in the region and that the area is ruled mostly by tribal elders. The Taliban are reported to control most of the region with its own style of Sharia rule, which the Pakistan government has been unable to stop. Such bold show of autonomy has led one writer in the "Wall Street Journal" to remark that Waziristan was a "state within a state."