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| India-Pakistan |
| U.S. acknowledges Musharraf allows guerrilla camps in Kashmir |
| 2002-05-24 |
| Charles at LGF points to this: In sharp defiance of his promise to the U.S., Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has allowed guerrillas to run camps in Kashmir and to infiltrate into India, U.S. intelligence officials say. You noticed that, did you? A Washington Post report quoting official sources says after internal debate, the "U.S. intelligence community now accepts that Musharraf allowed 50-60 guerrilla camps in Kashmir that harbour some 3,000 fighters to come back to life in mid-March after two months of quiescence." Been reading Rantburg, huh? Good move. The Post's columnist Jim Hoagland says by misreading Musharraf, the Bush administration has contributed to a dangerous confrontation between South Asia's two nuclear-armed rivals. Being decisive means making a decision and then following it up, not just hoping for the best... The report reveals the rate of infiltration into Indian Kashmir is "above the rate a year ago." It says: "Two other Musharraf promises -- to prevent cross-border terrorism from Pakistan or Pakistan-controlled territory, and to dismantle permanently Pakistan's Islamic fundamentalist organisations that preach violence -- have also withered as American attention has been focused on the Middle East." And that may have been by design... "The debate about what is going on has been settled," one U.S. official was quoted as saying. He was commenting on Musharraf's abandoned pledge to cut off help and training that his intelligence services and military give to terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir and India. Kinda hard to argue with facts, isn't it? Unless you're an Muslim, I mean... "What is still being debated, it points out, is Musharraf's intention. Is he unable or unwilling to prevent what is happening? And what do we do about either case?" The answer is yes to both. As to what we do, we can either bully him into acting or we can step away and watch him collapse one way or the other — done in by the Indos or by the Fundos. His range of options is now so constricted by his own mistakes and stoopid "tactics" that he may have nowhere to go. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |