Oh well ! Here we go again ... a Palestinian woman who watched the Israelis kill her brother dons the role of a suicide bomber and kills many israelis in Haifa, Israel in swift retaliation to this act decides to target so-called Terrorist training camps of the Islamic Jihad terror group
While actions and reactions like this have become a commonplace affair in the dirty game that is being played out in the Middle east between Israel and her Arab neighbours, this time the issue is of a higher order because the Israeli air-strike was targetted deep inside Syrian territory, the first such attack in a couple of decades
Israel claims the right to defend itself from the terror that is being perpetrated by the Jehadi terror networks. Quoting Ariel Sharon, the Israeli premier :
"Israel will not be deterred from defending its citizens and will hit its enemies any place and in any way"
, which no doubt is bolstered by the back-slapping being indulged in by George W. Bush :
"I made it very clear to the prime minister, like I have consistently done, that Israel's got a right to defend herself, that Israel must not feel constrained in defending the homeland"
For once, the trusted acolyte of the US, Tony Blair also chose to condemn the Israeli action !!! However, Syria, despite its best efforts in the UN has _NOT_ thus far been able to push a resolution through, and this might never be possible given the US's veto rights in the Security council
I, personally am at a loss to make up my mind whether this was right or wrong. If one were to put the road to peace in the Middle east as the predominant theme on which all parties involved in the conflict are to act, then the Israeli reaction is despicable, it probably puts any chance of a brokered peace deal back many a month ! However, if one were to look at the other side of the coin, then going by the logic that the only to fight back terror is to give it back in the same measure, then the argument takes a different turn
Drawing parallels to the secnario in the Indian sub-continent, it is not a mystery to anyone that there are Terrorist training camps belonging to the Lashar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-mohammed etc in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) and elsewhere inside Pakistani territory (The Tribune, Outlook Magazine)However, the Bush-doctrine or the doctrine of hot pursuit does not seem to be available to India for a few reasons :
* The US doesnt want that to happen and thereby India keep waiting twiddling thumbs hoping Big brother would be able to tame his trusted ally in the war against terror (that this trusted ally - Mian Musharraf is one of the key drivers of the Terror networks in the recent past - pre 9/11 is another story to be told on a different day)
* The fear / threat of escalations in tensions between to Nuclear armed nations
* India lacks the will to do so
Sad to say, but true, all of these apply to the India-Pakistan case
What India probably needs to do is to launch a covert operation inside PoK and Pakistan and use the enemy's tactics to defeat himself. In the sub-continent's scenario, there never might be another "WAR" between the two warring nations, there would always be this state of hightened tensions ... victory (however empty that might be) would come through attrition, the International community would only be a mute spectator
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