Broad response best on Mumbai attacks

 4 comment(s)  
 E-mail Story
 Print Story
  Share

 digg it!
 Facebook
 del.icio.us
Seed Newsvine
Fark It
Reddit

Text Size: 

Tools Sponsor

The broader the international response to the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, the better.

Indications are growing stronger every day that a terrorist group based in Pakistan was responsible for the attacks last week that left more than 180 people dead.

The latest finding came Tuesday from Indian police officials who said they found the names and phone numbers of the senior leaders of the Pakistani group Lashkar-e-Taiba in a satellite phone left on a hijacked fishing vessel.

Also on Tuesday, officials said the terrorists came by ship to India from the Pakistan port of Karachi. The lone surviving member of the commando-style attack also acknowledged the Lashkar-e-Taiba group was behind the attack, according to Indian officials.

Desire for unilateral reprisal by the Indian government is strong. There is widespread sympathy for the victims, and traditional hardliners have long favored get-tough tactics with Pakistan. There already have been calls for military strikes into Pakistan.

The downside of that approach is considerable. It would be a major setback to normalization of relations between the governments of the two countries, which has been progressing in recent years. It also would weaken other anti-terrorism efforts.

The move also might provoke the Pakistani government to withdraw troops from lawless tribal regions, where they have been deployed to help bring Taliban and al-Qaida sympathizers under control, and move them to the border of the disputed Kashmir region.

That response by Pakistan would hinder progress toward U.S. goals. Osama bin Laden is believed to be hiding in the rugged terrain of the northern border between India and Afghanistan. Taliban forces also are using the region as a base for attacks in Afghanistan.

The nature of the attack in Mumbai also lends support for an international effort. Although most of the victims were Indian, the terrorists targeted international hotels and restaurants favored by foreign visitors. Gunmen reportedly were searching for Americans, Britons and Jews.

So far, Pakistani officials have been publicly cooperative with the Indian investigation into the attacks.

Those government officials, however, have none too firm a grasp on power in their own country. The Lashkar-e-Taiba organization reportedly has support in the Pakistani military. Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf at one time banned the group, but never followed through to enforce the edict.

All those factors lead to the conclusion that an international effort with the cooperation of Pakistan is the most appropriate response to the attacks. The United States, India and Pakistan should look for allies, possibly through the United Nations, in the effort to apprehend those responsible for planning the attacks and bring them to justice.