Posted on 05/18/2002 10:51:03 PM PDT by swarthyguy
It's all systems go, as far as New Delhi is concerned. After collecting all the necessary evidence of the massing of infiltrators across the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir as well as their locations, the Indian Air Force is busy giving final touches to its strategy for conducting selective strikes at the terror camps in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.
New Delhi has kept Washington informed of the presence of over 3,000 terrorists in the Northern Territories, near the LoC. While the US is believed to have admitted that it would be "legitimate" for India to take action in these circumstances, it has pleaded for more time to be given to Pakistan.
Indian soldiers cheer teammates, not in picture, during their morning exercise near the international border in Punjab on Saturday -AP
However, this time, the Government is in no mood to oblige. "We gave you nearly six months after the attack on our Parliament. What were you doing all this time? Nothing has changed on the ground," a senior Government functionary is understood to have conveyed to US officials in New Delhi.
The view in the top echelons of the Government is that while military action is undoubtedly "fraught with risks," inaction at this juncture will be "disastrous". It is not just a question of the Government, "We have to ask ourselves what kind of a nation we are, if we fail to act even now," a top Government official told The Pioneer on Saturday.
While the Government gears up for a possible military option, South Block would continue to take calibrated measures to mount diplomatic pressure on Islamabad.
By Sunday, some more important decisions could be taken, including withdrawal of the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status and a reconsideration on Indus Water Treaty.
Top sources in the Government revealed that Indian Intelligence agencies have identified 75 operational camps relocated in PoK during the past few months. These camps, evidently set up under the supervision of the Pakistan army, include well-equipped mercenaries, most of whom fled from Afghanistan after the fall of Taliban militia. Many of these assembled mercenaries are believed to be Arabs linked to Al-Qaeda outfits who were till recently fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with the Taliban.
During the high level briefing on Saturday by three services chiefs to the Prime Minister and key Cabinet colleagues, the officers gave a detailed presentation on these camps and recently relocated settlements of the Jehadis in PoK.
Sources said that the CCS will again sit on Sunday to discuss strategy with the three services chiefs.
During the past fortnight, Intelligence agencies have given specific inputs about the recently relocated training camps and launching pads of the terrorists set up all along the border in Northern Areas and the PoK. A secret report sent to the PMO reveals that between 3,000 to 4,000 terrorists belonging to the Taliban and Laden's Al Qaeda have been sheltered in PoK. The report says that 20,000 terrorists are settled in tents which have sprung up on the periphery of Muzaffarabad.
The report also mentions that the biggest settlement of terrorists is located at Al-badr Markaz, 20 km from Muzaffarabad.
According to the report a large number of these camps and settlements are being directly managed by the Pakistan army.
"Training camps and establishments of Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed (under their new nomenclatures), Al-badr and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen continue to function freely in an around Muzzafarabad," the report says.
In US diplomatic terms that means "shoot at will."
This article is telling in that the thought process of the leadership displays a logic found in the West and Israel. The backwards and illogical thought process of immature national mindsets and peoples who are ruled by hate, fear and a "lack of information" is evident in how Pakistan has acted, and not much difference in how many Africian, Arab and South American countries operate.
This national logic is easy to trace and pinpoint by analysts who follow the influence of the Great Powers in relation to dominace in relationships to smaller countries. A good example might be of the cold war in which all countries influenced by the USA have developed strong political and economic governments; those who remain influenced by either China or Russia are dictatorships, have poor economies and control their people by means of information, or a lack thereof!
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