Pakistan Versus India

The border region of Kashmir is heating up once again between the sub-continent's two nuclear powers. India is already in a state of agitation after the Mumbai massacre and the little match of some cross-border exchanges of fire might be enough to ignite the torch of war-perhaps even a nuclear exchange. Not surprisingly the unserious novice in the Oval Office has hardly uttered a word about the Kashmir conflict or the Mumbai outrage; perhaps, Obama thinks nothing of consequence ever happened on earth until his ascension.

The Other Shoe

President Bush was greeted by one of the practitioners of the welcoming religion of peace in Baghdad yesterday. His press conference was disrupted by a journalist who threw his shoes at our President. The reporter is being questioned by the Iraqi President's guards, but thousands of Iraqis have rallied demanding the shoe tossers immediate release. He merits no consideration or special dispensation because of his status as a member of the fourth estate. Did the absolutely innocent Daniel Pearl get favorable treatment from the Allah akbar crowd because of his press card? The sabots were thrown at the US from conservative hawks who pushed for war, at Quaker pacifists, at crazed Code Pinkers, at our very ideals of tolerance, pluralism, and liberty. Almost everyone in the Muslim and Arab worlds despise us. The only place where there is consistent gratitude and respect for America and Americans is the Kurdish area of Iraq. Even Iraq's oil minister called for $80 a barrel oil to demonstrate the true desire of the Iraqi government to punish America for Iraq's liberation. The Mumbai murderers were reported to have demanded British and American passport holders come forward for what no doubt, if any had complied, would have meant their deaths. In the first Gulf War, President Bush's father liberated Kuwait and earned mostly the admiration of the al Sabah family, but that has not stopped Kuwatis from joining jihad against the West with two Kuwatis numbering amongst the suicide murderers of September 11, 2001. In Afghanistan, virtually any US-inflicted casualties are called "innocent civilians" often engaged in "wedding parties" by their treacherous, ungrateful Afghan mates. Harry Truman said if you want gratitude in Washington, "get a dog". America can no longer afford the cut-throat loyalty of our so-called Arab and Muslim "friends". In the Dar al-Salam, they think Americans are all dogs. But remember out here in the Dar al- Harb, we will never be your dhimmi. We have canine teeth, and we bite back.

The ISI Delivers

Pakistan has been implicated in past terror attacks on India. In the Mumbai Massacre, even if Pakistan as a nation did not direct the rampage, at the least rogue elements or former members of the ISI had to have had foreknowledge of the assault, acquaintance with the perpetrators or their backers, or a deeper involvement to the level of prior intelligence gathering and material support. Pakistan must select her side in the war on terror. To prove they are on the side of the West and civilization, they must open their books, as it were. Withdraw any agents abroad whose security would be compromised, investigate the activities of their operatives, and account for their spending. If any are found to have been involved, but national pride is deemed at stake, Pakistan can try and punish the guilty themselves. I have no doubt the leader of Pakistan whose own wife Benazir Bhutto was murdered by these same forces did not orchestrate or in any way condone the Mumbai terror. But the ISI has long been an international troublemaker. Their involvement in nuclear proliferation with the A. Q. Khan network providing the technical expertise to arm North Korea is well-documented. The Khan network also assisted Iran in her effort to acquire atomic capabilities.If she does not come clean, Pakistan will face the righteous wrath of an aroused India with support from Great Britain and the US. Pakistan must cast off the corrupt or fanatic elements she harbors now or face crushing defeat later.