India and Pakistan May Be Readying for War in Aftermath of Mumbai Attacks
It's beginning to look like the religious militants of the Deccan Mujahedin may get their way. Indian government officials are stating that they have certain proof of a link between the Mumbai terrorists and elements with links to Pakistani intelligence. Pakistan, for its part, is ending military operations along the Afghan border and putting its own military on stand-by for a confrontation with India.
At war level: India raises security status amid griefWonderful. Two nuclear powers may end up at war, thanks in no small part to the actions of religious fundamentalists who dehumanize and kill. More death, more destruction, more horrors... maybe huge horrors, and the deaths of more innocent people could be the result of all of this. These are countries with nukes pointed at one another, both of which contain influential religious factions willing to die for their causes in order that they reap some divine reward.
by Randeep Ramesh and Jason Burke
The Indian government raised the country's security to a "war level" yesterday saying it had certain proof of a Pakistani link to the Mumbai attacks.
The dramatic move prompted Pakistan to say it would end military operations against Islamist militants on the Afghan border, which are critical to the "war on terror", for an "unwanted conflict" with Delhi...
...Sri Prakash Jaiswal, India's minister of state for home affairs, said the country's "intelligence will be increased to a war level, we are asking the state governments to increase security to a war level"...
...the group named by India, Lashkar-e-Taiba, has longstanding relationships with Pakistan's security establishment...
The Indian minister said yesterday there was "no doubt that the terrorists had come from Pakistan ... We have evidence of their nationalities. We will reveal everything soon"...
Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is fighting Indian control of the disputed Kashmir region, was behind a deadly 2001 assault on the Indian parliament that pushed New Delhi and Islamabad to the brink of war...
I hope both can be convinced to step back from this brink. I also hope that more moderate heads prevail, even if they are religious ones. (c.f. Muslims Against Sharia).
