Author: Editorial
Publication: Los Angeles Times
Date: October 4, 2001
Simplistic analysis of the war on
terror is undermined almost daily by events on the evening news. The suicide
bombing that killed 38 people in a legislative building in the Indian state
of Kashmir this week was an act of terrorism as surely as the attacks on
the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A Pakistan-based group said it
was responsible for the slaughter but later backed away from that claim.
There's no question, however, that terrorist groups operate against Kashmir
from Pakistan. The United States and its allies should make it clear that
Islamabad must stop giving even moral support, let alone training and weapons,
to these groups.
The United States needs Pakistan
in its search for Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda network. Bin Laden is
based in Afghanistan and sheltered there by the Taliban regime, which Pakistan
has long supported. The situation is complicated because the Pakistani
generals who seized power in a 1999 coup have to contend with Islamic fundamentalists
of their own. These militants want the attacks on India to continue until
New Delhi gives up control over its part of Kashmir.
India too has militants, who urge
that Pakistan be attacked. India is predominantly Hindu, Pakistan is Muslim,
and this is fodder for extremists on both sides. India and Pakistan have
fought two wars over Kashmir in the last half-century. The latest outbreak
of fighting has lasted a dozen years and killed tens of thousands of soldiers,
police and civilians. The stakes are higher now because both countries
have nuclear weapons.
Monday's attack on the legislative
assembly building in the summer capital of Kashmir came as India's foreign
minister was in Washington to remind President Bush and Secretary of State
Colin L. Powell that India was among the first to offer the use of land
and air space in the attack on terrorism. In the initial stages, India
stayed quiet about the Washington-Islamabad coziness, recognizing that
the coalition needs Pakistan's help. But after the Kashmir deaths, India's
prime minister warned that "there is a limit" to India's patience. The
U.S. too must express its impatience, and Islamabad should rein in the
groups using its territory to attack Kashmir.
It is in Pakistan's self-interest
not to give India more grounds to chase guerrillas across the border. It
is in Washington's interest to keep both nations in the fold. Reiterating
a blanket condemnation of terrorism will add clarity to the mission and
help keep the coalition intact.
