(India) Military chiefs urge raid inside Pakistan

The Age ^

[jhpigott]

the targets i mentioned were more symbolic in nature and would be hardly more than a face saving gesture for the Indian govt.

If India really wanted to make a statement, hitting the ISI as you suggest, taking out a couple key bridges, etc. would certainly send a message to Pak

what I think is likely is that India and Pak will both mobilize and move to the LOC in some number, with low intensity conflict, artillery exchanges, bomb a camp or 2 in Kashmir, much like we saw during the 02’ Indo-Pak crisis

[17th Miss Regt]

You are probably right in your assessment.

[jhpigott]

what i don’t really like about my assessment and is a little unnerving - as opposed to 02’, India and Pak have weak governments. Pak especially with the loss of Musharaff’s strong arm and a serious disconnect bwtn the civilian govt, Pak military and ISI. Risk of miscalculation goes up and with a short 10-15 minute flight time on the medium range nuclear capable missiles . . . you see where I’m going with this.

check PM

[Tzimisce]

I expect Pakistan to respond with the same middle finger they give us.

[GonzoGOP]

Pak military and ISI. Risk of miscalculation goes up and with a short 10-15 minute flight time on the medium range nuclear capable missiles

Based on the amount of fissionable material the Pak only have 5-8 nukes. They are heavy enriched uranium bombs and would need to be delivered by aircraft as their available missiles can't boost the weight of the weapons. India has a decent air force and might be able to intercept some or all before they reach their targets. And the design isn't terribly reliable based on the NK bomb that was made using Pak plans.

India has at least 50 possibly as high as 80 nukes. They are estimated to have enough material for 80 but it is unlikely they have actually assembled that many weapons. They are supposedly of plutonium implosion design so are smaller and can be delivered by IRBM or aircraft.

Again this is all from Internet sources, but if true the islamists can hurt India, but would be wiped out by India's counter strike.

[jhpigott]

agree with your assessment that Pak could seriously hurt India, but India could wipe them out in return.

It’s the unstable condition of the Pak government that concerns me regarding the use of nuclear weapons . . . not saying it’s a likely conclusion to this developing crisis bwtn India and Pakistan, just saying that the risk is somewhat amplified given the political fractrures in Pakistan

[PapaBear3625]

If Indian police can’t even shoot a murdering terrorist in the act of committing murders, how is India going to “raid Pakistan”?

You assume their bosses issued the police live ammunition.

Also, most people will not fire upon another human, unless they are trained and conditioned to do so. I would not be surprised to learn that Indian police firearms training did not include any actual practice in shooting.

[samtheman]

Good points. Maybe the guns are unloaded and maybe they’ve never had any firearms training.

(Barney Fife had at least one bullet in his pocket!)