Two stories - Israel moves into Lebanon - India attacks - No response yet

july 12th, 2006

good question from reader gopi. it's not even attacking pak, but making noises about attacking pak that matter. MAD -- mutual assured destruction -- will make even the most hardened fundamentalist think a little. this is true with a little twist with pakistani terrorists. i have observed this on internet newsgroups. pakistanis talk trash with a lot of bravado and declare they are willing to have their country be blasted to a radioactive lump of coal if they could take india down with them.

but then, if the talk turns to how india could -- with its long-range missiles -- take down mecca as well and turn the kaaba into a glowing radioactive cinder, then the pakistanis immediately backpedal furiously. i don't quite know why this is. maybe it is because of the possibility that if the kaaba is destroyed, mohammedanism might disintegrate. it is perhaps a triumphalist ideology that needs its adherents to believe in the inexorable victory of mohammedanism as celestially pre-ordained. so if its very core, the kaaba building, is attacked, then it is not clear how viable mohammedanism will be.

the americans, i have learnt reliably, have a number of war-game scenarios related to wiping out mecca and medina. i am told american intelligences has discreetly let it be known that in case they get seriously pissed off again, they will activate a few ICBMs that are pointed towards mecca and medina. they will tolerate a certain amount of mohammedan terrorism so long as it's directed against other countries (including their bosom buddies the uk) or even directed against their soldiers (as in iraq). this is collateral damage which is acceptable so long as there is an arrangement about petroleum. but one more major attack on the US mainland, and, well, informed sources tell me the exact words were "your ass will be grass".

indians dont take this tack because there are too many fifth-columnists in the indian government. i remember the wsj talking calling the new treasury secretary poulson a 'friend of china' because goldman sachs (where he made his fortune) has a lot of connections in china and surely, there has been a little 'you-scratch-my-back-and-i'll-scratch-yours' along the way. an astute friend of mine who is a keen observer of the indian security scene commented that india had plenty of 'friends of china', 'friends of america', 'friends of saudi arabia' among the ruling class. what we miss, he rued, are 'friends of india'.

alas, there are none in the ruling dispensation, or, more generally, among politicians. yet, one guy i thought was a 'friend of india' was good old george fernandes. he would have pressed the red button, and the chinese and the pakistanis knew it too.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Gopi
Date: Jul 12, 2006 7:45 PM
Subject: Two stories - Israel moves into Lebanon - India attacks - No response yet
To:

Rajeev

I was reading NY TImes, and there are two news next to each other, one stating

Israel Enters Lebanon After 2 Soldiers Are Kidnapped

and

Inquiry Continues in India as Militants Deny Tie

What it would take for our politicos to gain some spine and make the 2nd story read as the first one. Why are we not moving in to Kashmir with full force, or even Pak for that matter.

regds.