>>Whom do you suspect? Egypt? Pakistan? >>
It is a country or a pact of countries that have grown stronger rather than weaker. Because this terrorist attack was a statement of strength, it was made to demonstrate strength and not desperation.
It has to be country that has launched a War before, because this was a proxy-battlefield operation. New York and Washington D.C were the Theater of the Battle. It has to be a country that is getting stronger rather than weaker, because this was not a desperate action (because of the patience and long-term resouces required to carry it out.) This was a planned action by a powerful country which has probably been negotiating with US on an issue (more likely a military issue) for some time.
Egypt, unlikely. They have not launched a sophisticated war for a while.
Pakistan, also is less likely, because they are in a pretty weak condition right now, and the military govt. has no interest in hurting US, because they have always been dependent on US.
India, has the capability, but has not shown interest in an offensive before, typically uses its powers in the defensive, and also has been a victim of the same group of terrorists.
China has the capability, also aspires to be a superpower. they also have strategic interests in Kashmir, Afghanistan, Tibet etc. Some anger against US. Has been reported to help Pakistan in its nuclear missile program and rocket technology for launching missiles.
Iraq has the power, they have planned major offensives before, they are in a corner. But, Iraq has been the obvious suspect all along. Too convenient. And they have been weakened.
There may be a Pact of countries that may be behind this. The immense pressure of many countries to declare Israel as a terrorist state at the recent Global Race Conference in South Africa was a show of power. Maybe many powerful countries have joined together to point to US that we are working in a different global regime now. But any conspiracy theory that involved too many countries working together is weak, in my opinion, because consensus would be hard to get.
For those who do not know, there are casualties of terrorism in other countries almost on a daily basis (and the media does not focus on them). In the last two years more Indians have died of terrorism in India than perhaps any other country. Pakistan launched a proxy-war with Afghan-trained extremists against India two years ago. Since then, what has been branded freedom fighting for Kashmir has become a war-like military operation. Two years ago, supposed freedom-fighters/mercenaries/terrorists(implicitly and explicitly supported by Pakistani troops) attacked India in Kashmir and took up important positions in the hills. These "freedom fighters" were heavily armed and killed many Indian military personel, before being pushed back, because India threatened Pakistan with a full-scale war. COINCIDENCE. When Osama Bin Laden's camps were attacked in Afghanistan by Missile strikes, a high percentage of those being trained were being trained to fight in Kashmir.
Also note that the escalation in terrorism against US has been happening approximately at the same time as the escalation of suicide bombing attacks in Israel and also of a proxy-war by militants in Kashmir. Each of these attacks has been at increased level of sophistication, with consistent and persistent attacks. In Kashmir militants went from just kidnapping a few individuals, killing innocent travellers in buses to full-scale launches on Indian security forces in the heart of Kashmir.
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