The friends and family plan
We’ve got one standard for the U.S.:
“… if we have Osama bin Laden in our sights, and the Pakistani government is unable or unwilling to take them out, then… we will take them out.” [Obama]
We conceded to Israel the same right of self-defense after it attacked Hamas training camps and arms caches today, killing over 200 (unclear how many were terrorists):
A spokesman for President Bush… did not call for a halt to the attacks on Hamas. [NYT]
Backing Israel, the administration of President George W. Bush, in its final weeks in office, put the onus on Hamas to prevent a further escalation. “The United States … holds Hamas responsible for breaking the ceasefire and for the renewal of violence in Gaza,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a statement. [Reuters]
But we’ve got quite another standard for India after 11/26:
“We hope that both sides will avoid taking steps that will unnecessarily raise tensions during these already tense times,” White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said Friday. [AP]
Our seven-year-old retaliatiation in Afghanistan must remain convenient and inexpensive.
on Saturday, December 27th, 2008, 2:52 pm in Pakistan, Politics › 
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“I can haz vengeance ?”. Lolcats are funny but they don’t command respect. GOI is a lolcat.
All countries act in their own best interest. India has the right to avenge the many attacks originating in the “Land of the Pure”, it should not seek permission. That being said, I am not sure what effect a military response would have at this point. It is because they are so weak that I am worried, their response will not be proportionate and India needs to strengthen its internal defenses before it proceeds down that path
If the US were formally allied to Hamas, (i.e., it had the status of a ‘major non-NATO ally‘), the US were counting on its cooperation in another war, it had nuclear weapons, and Gaza was a nation of 160 million people, perhaps one could argue that there was a seeming case of ‘double standards’ here.
No, Pakistan is a case by itself, and will receive all the attention it deserves;, Obama is coming, Reidel’s on the case, comprehensive solutions are being sought, and it behooves India to think medium and long term, and proactively involve itself in the process. Tit-for-tat, even ’surgical strikes’ will not get India anywhere, and will instead be counterproductive (the Pakistan Army will scoot eastward, the Taliban will join them, then where will things be? Both India and the US will face a more difficult situation ). Unfortunately, there are no easy answers, and also unfortunately it’s going to take a while to sort out; but it’s only then that it will be done right. The comprehensive solution will have to be a mix of military pressure, and also have political, economic, social, cultural aspects. It’s time that started getting discussed, instead of merely making it look like India is ‘impotent’, much as it seems that way.
BTW, 26/11 and 13/12(2001) had the same intention - to get the pressure off the Taliban-AQ forces. It really does makes sense for India not to take the bait this time.
I think Hendrik Hertzberg in the New Yorker had it exactly right: The answers for Pakistan lie largely in its own hands—that’s the most frightening thing of all.
India responding militarily, even with targeted strikes, is only bound to weaken Zardari even more, and strengthen the hands of the ISI and army hands clamoring to amplify the notion of the existential threat to Pakistan which justifies their power, influence, and wealth. Pakistan is just a cauldron waiting to explode, thanks to 50 years of opportunistic immorality by the US and Britain in some misguided geopolitical game seeking balance against India/USSR, compounded by India’s gross mishandling of Kashmir. And when it does explode, India will feel the shock waves even more intensely than it does now.
Given our options this is true. But it is also equally true that it is our impotence that forces us to choose from these options. Options have to be created by years, if not decades of political and military effort, overt as well as covert. We have been too pacifist - which in our case, is just another word for lazy and corrupt. The snake that doesn’t even hiss gets stepped on!
Also there is no point comparing us with Israel and pointing out US hypocrisy. As if there was ever something other than self-interest at play in international politics! The sooner we get our act together in actively protecting and promoting ours, the better.
Who would emerge as leaders from a fragmented Pakistan, the people who like to think of themselves as the inheritors of Ataturk (while looting the treasury) or the drunk on god types?
I agree with the previous comment that in the past that inaction was due to GOI’s incompetence, but unfortunately this is not the right opportunity for India to build its rep as a regional power. Better off playing “catch the pirate” in the Arabian Sea and overhauling internally.
could the whole having nuclear weapons thing have to do with the double standard so lovingly documented here?