Kashmir Crossroads

WSJ ^ | 22.5.08 | WSJ Editors

[swarthyguy]

This isn't a disaster, but it's a worrying sign. Kashmir has enjoyed three years of relative peace, thanks in large part to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's efforts to start talks with India, enforce a military cease-fire and rein in militant activity. In the past 10 days, Pakistani soldiers have fired three times on Indian troops at the "line of control" in Kashmir, killing one. That's made India twitchy, and understandably so. The bomb blasts that killed more than 60 people in Jaipur last week may have been linked to Pakistan-funded militants. The idea of settling border disputes and agreeing on joint oversight of the region now seems off the table. Mr. Gilani's call to revive a U.N. resolution also isn't politically feasible, because it can't proceed until Pakistan draws down its troops – which it isn't wont to do.

Mr. Gilani and his coalition may be trying to pacify Pakistan's hardline Islamists, who are pressuring the government to take a harder line on Kashmir. Terror attacks in Pakistan's cities are increasing. The government has responded by negotiating with militants such as Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of Pakistan's Taliban wing and the man charged by a Pakistani court for masterminding the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

That kind of weak-kneed approach to terrorists isn't something India can accept – or Pakistan should allow. If both sides genuinely want to help the people of Kashmir, they'd work toward enforcing the peace that has reigned in recent years. Talking helps, but actions matter more

[swarthyguy]

Since the new government took power in Islamabad in February, there's been an increase in Pakistani jihadis pouring over the border.

The unfortunate downside of a civilian goobermint in Pukestan. The civilians cannot control the jihadis, and as has been the case in the past under both PMs Bhutto and Sharif, the quid pro quo for domestic calm in Pakistan, especially now, is to let the jihadis be jihadis.

For all his faults, and it took him long enough, Mush, as this piece mentions, did tamp down and eventually halt all incursions across the border.

Now, it's back to the same old; Pakistani shelling by the Army provides cover for jihadi infiltrations, and if it kills a couple of Indian soldiers, so much the better.

And the latest news is the surrender of the Swat valley to the jihadis, with the Pakistani Army retreating completely out of the area or staying immobile in it's fortress cantonments, leaving the Sharian Army of the Talibs to enforce Wahhabi style diktats.

The Talib have also said that this is a condition for peace; that if Sharia is not allowed total supremacy, they will begin jihad again.

He, in a few months everyone will calling for Mushie's return!

[ARridgerunner]

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