Mumbai Terrorist Attacks 7/11/06

The world has been a little extra crazy as of late with too many conflicts in the Middle East, the resurgence of violence in Afghanistan ( the very important return of Guantanamo Bay to national debate (http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_4043353 ), and the terrible bombings in Mumbai, India. If you've been following the news lately, you have heard about the terrorist bombing in Mumbai, killing over 200 people. Fortunately, we were nowhere near Mumbai and are both completely safe. Our thoughts are with all of the lives impacted by the blast, and we sincerely hope that cooler heads prevail and the incident doesn't lead to any reprisal attacks that have been far too common in India's past.



I must go on somewhat of a sidetrack for a second and give some "in India" perspective on the Mumbai blasts... Michele and I were both amazed regarding the immediate (unsubstantiated) accusations from the Indian media towards Pakistan. Now the US media expresses it's own biased theories, but the Indian media made their opinions sound like confirmed fact. The level of suspicion and outright anger between the two countries is pretty sobering, and it seems as if people want Pakistan to be responsible. The fact that the bombers came from within India has hardly been debated (even though there were violent political riots in the days prior to the blast. This is all very dangerous b/c the two countries have already been to war and were currently making progress in peace talks. The Mumbai blasts have put all of this in jeopardy, and there are already indications that the relations have soured . Why all the agitation? Again, it is over the region of Kashmir, which has also seen increased violence as of late.



So why am I spending all of this precious email time going over the decades old India-Pakistan conflict? It's because the US has such a HUGE influence over both countries and is involved in the entire mess. The US is a lead backer of Pakistan's president Musharraf, even though it's debatable whether he has the approval of his own people, and India is becoming a key economic and strategic partner of the USA. It has been incredible to talk to the people and read the papers to see how much importance they put on the relationship with the USA...almost frighteningly so.



So here are some recent events that might have been hidden in the US papers that are of extreme importance here:



1) The US Congress is currently deciding whether to approve an agreement made by President Bush to give India access to US civilian nuclear technology (for energy...much needed in India). In return, India will open its civilian nuclear facilities to inspection (also important). This is a big deal, because India is one of the few countries not to have signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (the others being Israel, North Korea, and...Pakistan) and current US law bans trade of nuclear technology with countries that have not signed the agreement. We are making an exemption for India. This is especially relevant given the current debate surrounding Iran and their insistence on using nuclear technology for domestic energy needs (of course debated by the rest of the world)
For more info: BBC News or New York Times.




2) While negotiating nuclear deals with India, the US is supporting Pakistan's military with a recent sale of 18 F-16 fighter jets. The US resumed sales of military equipment to Pakistan last March after suspending them from 1990-2005 b/c of Pakistan's nuclear program.



Now I recognize the reality of US policy in this region of the world, but all I'm saying is that we need to make sure to keep an eye on US policy in arming two nations with deep seeded anger for each other and a history already including three military conflicts. As if you didn't already have enough to keep your eyes on. :)