Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : America Under Siege: The End of Innocence -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Hunt who wrote (11875)	12/17/2001 2:30:14 PM
From: John Hunt	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 27666

India Preparing (Military) Response to Attack ( Take a deep breath and count to 10 please! ) [ NEW DELHI, India (AP) - With the armies of India and Pakistan on high alert, India said Monday it was preparing to respond to the suicide attack on Parliament - an assault it blames on Pakistan. India has said Thursday's operation was planned by Pakistan's intelligence agency and carried out by five Pakistanis. Thirteen people were killed in the raid, including the attackers. India is considering a military as well as political response, including bombing terrorist training camps it alleges are scattered across Pakistan. The Cabinet convened a security meeting Monday, and Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh met with reporters afterward. Asked about Pakistan having put its army on high alert, he said, ``The government is fully aware of this. We are alert.'' The United States has urged the rival neighbors to exercise restraint, with Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) saying the situation ``has the potential of becoming very dangerous.'' India says the attack on Parliament was planned by Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Islamic groups fighting to separate the mostly Muslim region of Kashmir (news - web sites) from India, and accuses Pakistani intelligence agency of involvement. Pakistan's information secretary, Anwar Mahmood, said his country would act on any ``credible proof'' that the Jaish-e-Mohammed was involved. But he dismissed India's claim of Pakistani government involvement. ``The blame game must end,'' the government spokesman was quoted as saying by Pakistan's official news agency. ``Pakistan expects India to look into the matter in a dispassionate manner...'' India's home minister, Lal Krishna Advani, suggested India would be within its rights to send troops across the border to chase Islamic guerrillas. ``If one country attacks its neighbor or sends its people to indulge in sabotage and killings, hot pursuit is regarded as a legitimate response,'' he told Star News television late Sunday. The militants have waged a separatist movement since 1989 in Jammu-Kashmir state, a campaign that has killed tens of thousands of people. They are seeking an independent Kashmir or merger with Muslim Pakistan. India accuses Pakistan of sponsoring and training the guerrillas; Pakistan counters that it backs the rebels only with ideology, not weapons. The countries have fought two wars over Kashmir. The suicide attack on Parliament prompted calls in India for the country to emulate the U.S. attacks against the Taliban and Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s al-Qaida terrorist network in Afghanistan (news - web sites), and those by Israel against Palestinian installations. Advani said such retaliatory strikes required careful consideration. ``So many factors would go into it,'' he said in the Star News interview. ``What is our intelligence, what is the assessment of our armed forces, what is the assessment of the government as a whole, what is likely to follow,'' he said. ``All this will be considered while framing a response.'' There were voices of dissent. The Communist Party of India-Marxist said a strike on Pakistani territory would spark ``full-scale war,'' Press Trust of India (news - web sites) reported. And Ghulam Mohammed Bhatt, the cleric at the main mosque in Kashmir, said: ``The clouds of war are hovering... .We appeal to both countries that they should initiate a serious dialogue.'' ] dailynews.yahoo.com