Posted on 07/03/2006 6:32:14 AM PDT by The Lion Roars
Washington, April 26: Stating that New Delhi's "overconfidence" about its ability to keep its nuclear weapons and materials from falling into terrorist hands could be misplaced, a report by US policymakers and think-tanks has warned that the country's multi-ethnic society may pose a serious danger to its arsenal.
"India is a multi-ethnic society with the world's second-largest Muslim population, and Arab fighters could blend into Indian society," the report, prepared during a conference in Washington by the NGO Stanley Foundation of IOWA, said.
The vulnerability of Indian nuclear weapons or material to theft or diversion was an "overlooked" matter, it said adding it was "unclear whether Delhi has given serious consideration to this potential in the light of official overconfidence about the security of India's nuclear weapons."
The report also expressed concern about the danger of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal falling into the hands of Islamic fundamentalists in case of a coup. Several observers were of the opinion that, in such a scenario, the US military should be ready to provide security over the nuclear weapons or even to take the weapons out of Pakistan entirely without the permission of Pakistani authorities, David Albright, president and founder of the Institute for Science and International Security, said.
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But such a move "may encourage India to take similar action, in essence to finish the job. Even if India does nothing, a new Pakistani government may launch any remaining nuclear weapons at US forces or against India", he said.
Diversity = perversity.
1. This IS disturbing not because there is a big collection of Muslims somewhere in the world (though that fact scares people who are ignorant of Muslims) but because the Indian society is, to put it mildly, chaotic.
The Hindus and Muslims there split their entire 3500-year-old society BECAUSE of religion, so it's NOT a small thing.
Mind you, there have been religious persecutions by the Hindus against Sikhs and Christians too, but there were always more Muslims, so the fighting was, therefore, more serious because the larger numbers challenged Hindus.
2. India's "overconfidence" is an enormous understatement. They really do think that they are so much better, smarter, wiser and such, than the rest of the world. It IS built into the very fabric of their culture, society and religion. The caste system may be officially null and void but 3500 hundred years of it won't go away because THEY and others (American's "democracy" push for everyone on the planet....naive, at best) want it to.
The Brahmin caste (from whence all the P.M.s come) IS considered superior, by caste. Brahmins who marry other castes DO "marry down." It used to be a capitol offense to assault a member of the upper caste.
That feeling of superiority to the rest of the Hindus, the very caste system itself, drove MILLIONS to Islam, understandably so. But Brahmins and other higher castes KNEW they were superior to the rest of the world too. Harhar, it must have been quite a show between the British snobs and the Brahmin snobs....as to whose s**t didn't smell.
The point is, the OVERCONFIDENCE stems from their very soul. I don't think they or Pakistan should have nukes EITHER. They are ALMOST as chaotic and nutty as North Korea. I doubt India's (or Pakistan's) ability to control their population, Hindus OR Muslims and their ability to control the Bomb.
Too bad so few Americans really know so very little about India and Hinduism. They are really a timb bomb themselves.
your post is full of inaccuracies and half truths. the indian PM is a Sikh. are you from pakistan or the middle east??
Diversity could be a strength or weakness. I would welcome migrants from Asia but keep the door locked for muslimes from the middle east.
Umm lets see,one or 2 visits makes you an authority on India!!!Hmm very interesting.Your Brahmin PM comment is indicative of your myopic understanding of the Indian polity-Most were Brahmins,but had diverse origins & educational standards & most worked to destroy the Caste system,not preserve it.This was characterstic of the only "Royal" to become Prime Minister of India.
The "ethnic" group is not the problem: it's the religion (the cult of Islam) that is the problem. Unless "Muslim" has suddenly become an ethnicity.
The caste system REALLY has disappeared.
There is NO caste problem at all any more.
Brahmins aren't "special" anymore.
Untouchables are full, participating members of Indian society.
There is NO serious problems with Sikhs or Christians.
Hindus and Muslims get along VERY well, like they ALWAYS did.
Rainbows and roses in India. Superiorty complex run amok. Same ole, same ole.
Noithing has changed.
I DID expect this. I worked in Saudi Arabia (Saudi Arabian AMERICAN Oil Company) for five years with many, many, many Indians and Pakistanis. I visited India as well (only for a month). I enjoyed the visit very much. Wonderful place, wonderful people, wonderful country.
99% of what I just wrote above (except for who is P.M. now, since I really don't care) is from those Indians and Pakistanis. The negative stuff on Pakistan came from a Christian Pakistani.
The answers from you both fully and completely reaffirm what I learned.
Thanks, We are pretty much in the dark about the situation over there, I hope we can count on more info from you.
You have none to blame but yourself for misquoting obvious facts. You went to India for a week and became a self appointed expert on India!! You conveniently avoid facts such as India being the largest democracy in the World with the largest affirmative action in place.
I dont know the source of your malicious propaganda. Such rhetoric only comes from Islamic trolls from middle east and pakistan who want to hide the ugly nature of the murderous and violent cult called Islam. If there is one thing that Islam teaches its followers to do well - it is lying and deception. Even its so called prophet regularly lied and killed people.
In my book - ISLAM is only for savages and beasts. It is the biggest epidemic against man kind and civilisation.
There is no god called Allah and Mohammed is a killer.
Agreed!!!! Nothing to do with ethnicity and everything to do with the cult of Islam. This ideology replaces humanity with savagery.
Well said. I have many lebanese christian friends who are great people. I also know Persians who dont believe in Islam. They are very cultured and hard working.
I know, I have also known many very smart, cultivated NON-MUSLIM Arabs. The reason Arab countries are so backward has nothing to do with the Arabs, as an ethnic group, and everything to do with Islam.
You're welcome.
Anytime.
well, even when I was India, some people may not have like US policies but everyone agreed that americans are hardworking, law-abiding people. Thats the image we gained about you.
I dont know where you got this sense that we feel we are superior! Hinduism and Gandhiji encouraged humility. Gandhi once said "If someone slaps you on one cheek, show them the other cheek!". apparently this advise is taken to mean, by d*ckless Indian polity, that we have to be restrainted even when rogue nations like pakistan attacks us time and again! so if you think we have a feeling of superiority inbread in us, then you are mightly wrong.
I work at my school library, there is this american collegue who works with me. whenever politics comes up in a discussion, he totally gives a bad picture about US. he feels US is arrogant and bullies other nations. now, will it be justified if I held the same view just because a few americans told me so? so stop spreading BS, learn and read about India before you make comments.
Yes, India has caste system and it is a cruel practice. It is still prevelent in rural areas. But it is beginning to fade. A ritual, thousands of years old, cannot be wiped out in a day. Literacy will slowly but surely make it disappear one day and we are working towards it. Today, 45% (27%BC + ~ 18%SC/ST) of all seats in higher education are reserved for backward castes. This is a huge affirmative action program in a country where higher education is hot commodity! So, its not all black and white. also, for some of you who donno know ground reality, In some states/communities, BRAHMINS, the so called high caste, are classified as backward castes!
1) Have you ever been to India? If not SHUT UP about the real caste situation. You have NO CLUE whatsoever. Inter-caste marriages are a lot more common in India than inter racial marriages are in the USA. Not many see it as marrying down or up anymore simply because the opportunties presented to each castes are more or less the same, and even in reverse as tha Mandal 2 reforms come in to effect.
2) About Indians considering themselves smarter and more cultured: Well, I think this kind of superiority complex exists in all cultures. Lets take the Chinese, the Jews, the Europeans, the Arabs and for God's sake, even the Mexicans. All of them boast of a long cultural history. Whats wrong in loving your culture? Indians and Chinese think of themselves as particularly special because we are 2 longest continuous cultures in the world, there is no denying this, but in my opinion they delve too long in the past instead of working to ameliorate their present and securing the future. The past is always glorious when the present sucks, everyone needs something to be proud of. In the pre-liberalization days of no money and no prosperity, ou culture was all we had to feel proud of, this was incorporated in our text books, albeit subtly, so you see Indians as being a proud people. As for being smarter, I really have had no such experience. If you have had such an experience, I think its quite justified given how stupid and ignorant you appear in your posting. You must have the IQ of a starfish really!
3) About the huge Muslim population in India proving to be a problem. Well, we have problems with our Muslim population b ut a vast majority of our Muslims are Indian Muslims and not Muslim Indians. There is a difference. They are Indian first and India's comparatively better quality of education ensures that they dont go the Arab Muslim way. But having said that, the Islamic population in India is among the least literate communities in India and this is where the problem stems from. A lot of Muslims live in ghettoes within the cities and this does have the ability to turn into a breeding ground for radicals. But the population being a majority Hindu population, such Muslims are always kept in check. Whenever they materialise, their first display of angst is against Hindus, and likeyou saw in Gujarat, Hindus don't take it lying down anymore. You kill our people, we'll butcher 10 times more of yours. I don't think India's radical Muslim population will ever get access to nuclear weapons. There are Muslims in the nuclear program no doubt, but all scientists' (Hindu/Christian/Muslim) antecedents are checked before being allowed into such critical operations.
Sorry for the inaccuracies of who is P.M. now.
----Yes, you'd better be.----
I guess that means that EVERYTHING I said was wrong.
----No, it means that there are inaccuracies in what you have said, so the credibility of your postings take a beating----
The caste system REALLY has disappeared.
----No, it hasn't but the process is ongoing and succeeding----
There is NO caste problem at all any more.
----Ditto as above----
Brahmins aren't "special" anymore.
----Well too bad, we really are not special anymore. So much so that I changed my surname to ensure I dont let other people know I am a Brahmin----
Untouchables are full, participating members of Indian society.
----They are now. If they are not, its not because the law is against them. Amelioration of large sections of soceity takes time. (Of course starfish can be different)----
There is NO serious problems with Sikhs or Christians.
----No problems with Sikhs (unless you're still in the 80s) and no problem with ordinary Christians either. Its the ones that proselytize that generally get into trouble. We would prefer that everybody respect the others religion and not work in the marketing department of a global company where the yearly bonus or in this case, a place in heaven gets guaranteed by how many people he/she converts to Christianity/Islam.
Hindus and Muslims get along VERY well, like they ALWAYS did.
----We haven't gotten along and we won't get along until they accept the fact that India and Hindus have a right to exist, a right to worship their Gods in their birthplace, a right to serve the will of the majority of the people. They had their time, almost 800 years as rulers, and they couldn't manage to get a Muslim majority population in India like they did in Iran and North Africa. Now that they can't do so anymore so they have to get used to the role of the minority.----
Rainbows and roses in India. Superiorty complex run amok.
----Smoking weed is bad for health. It starts with imagining rainbows and flowers. Quit before you end up in rehab----
Same ole, same ole.
Noithing has changed.
----Exactly what would you like to see changed? I see the cause of your addiction now, wanting a different experience has led you to smoke weed. What next? Cocaine?"----
I DID expect this. I worked in Saudi Arabia (Saudi Arabian AMERICAN Oil Company) for five years with many, many, many Indians and Pakistanis.
----Thanks for CAPITALIZING the AMERICAN part. But given, like you said, Indians consider themselves as too smart, I for what my smart a$$ is worth, see through your effort (in vain) to dimnish the fact that it was SAUDI ARABIAN-american Oil Company. To also clarify here, there are some countries where few self respecting Hindus end up going to and S. Arabia is one of them. Initially, most job advertising companies in India like Jerry Verghese and Gheewalla would advertise such jobs "for Muslims only" in Indian newspapers until someone tookhem to court.----
I visited India as well (only for a month). I enjoyed the visit very much. Wonderful place, wonderful people, wonderful country.
----Is that a contradiction I see? Now I see an emergence of schizophrenia here. Whom am I talking to? The starfish? Wonderful people one time and then you say superiority complex. Which one your highness?----
The answers from you both fully and completely reaffirm what I learned.
----Good. This post should clear beyond all doubt that you are indeed stupid----
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