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India-Pakistan
Fasten your seatbelts
2010-02-17
By K. Subrahmanyam

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates predicted during his visit to India that the Lashkar-e-Taiba, or LeT, would launch an attack on India to trigger an Indo-Pakistan conflict. While commending Indias restraint following the 26/11 Mumbai attack, he wondered whether Indias patience would endure in that case. The Pune attack signals that this testing moment has arrived for India. It is time for the Indian government, strategic community, media (especially the electronic media) and civil society to carefully assess Indias national interest -- because, in all probability, the Pune terrorist attack is likely to be just the first; others, perhaps even more devastating, are likely to follow. Let us for the moment forget the partisan political rhetoric on the foreign secretaries talks and concentrate on threats to India and how to tackle them.

The US National Intelligence Advisor, Dennis Blair, told the Senate Intelligence Committee on February 2 that "Pakistan has not consistently pursued militant actors focused on Afghanistan, although Pakistani operations against TTP and similar groups have sometimes temporarily disrupted Al-Qaeda... Simultaneously, Islamabad has maintained relationships with other Taliban-associated groups that support and conduct operations against US and ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) forces in Afghanistan... It has continued to provide support to its militant proxies... The Al-Qaeda, Afghan Taliban, and Pakistani militant safe haven in Quetta will continue to enable the Afghan insurgents and Al-Qaeda to plan operations, direct propaganda, recruiting and training activities, and fundraising activities with relative impunity."
Posted by:john frum

#4  Subjectively speaking, IMO AFPAK IS SYMBOLIC OF THE LARGER OR GREATER US-VS.-ISLAMISTS BATTLE FOR EURASIA, espec ANTI-RADICALIST/EXTREMIST CONTROL OF ASIA'S NUKES + OTHER ADVANCED WEAPONS [NBC-CBRNE, etc.].

Iff you can't dev your own Nukes, andor the lead time to do so is costs-, time-inhibitive vee other vital priorities or agendums, NEXT BEST THING PRAGMATICALLY FOR THE MILTERRS = TANGOS IS TO FORCIBLY TAKE OVER SOMEONE ELSE'S [Russia-China-Indjuh, etc].

Again, Year 2010-2020/2025 > LT ECON TRUBLED + GEOPOL TRUBLED USA VERSUS NEWLY NUKULAAR RADICAL ISLAM, ETAL. MILTERR GROUPS.

E.g. GUAM-WESTPAC > IOW ECON TRUBLED GEOPOL "DECLINING"? USA VS. "RISING CHINA" VS. RISING NUCLEAR ISLAMISM???
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2010-02-17 19:36  

#3  ION INDJUH, NEWS KERALA > INDIA VOWS FULL PROTECTION FOR GAMES [Cricket, Hockey, Commonwealth Games].
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2010-02-17 19:24  

#2  Recently there was some speculation here about what the Paks were up to by nailing one of their Pakiban buddies. Considered in the context of this article, it may be they're trying to buy some street cred with the US so State will warn India off....
Posted by: Mercutio   2010-02-17 16:33  

#1  We have some leverage over the Pakistanis and that is all the billions of dollars we send them every year. We don't seem to be using it very well.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305   2010-02-17 13:06  

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