During the Presidential campaign, Democratic candidate Barack Obama promised to continue bombing targets in Pakistan’s tribal areas using drones and insisted that Pakistan — not Iraq — was the epicentre for global terrorism. After years of providing billions in military assistance and operational reimbursements to the Pakistan army with no accountability, Mr. Obama promised a different relationship with Pakistan. A Lashkar attack deliberately targeting American and western civilians within a few weeks of Mr. Obama’s presidential victory seemed so unthinkable within these changed political contexts that this author initially incorrectly presumed that the attack was executed by the Jaish-e-Mohammad or an indigenised Indian cell cultivated by the Lashkar. By the first day of the siege, though, it was apparent that the attack was indeed directly authored by the Lashkar. The only question that remained was whether it had been sanctioned by the ISI and if so, from what level. Those questions persist.
Retrospectively, it is clear the Mumbai assault served — successfully — several possible strategic goals for Rawalpindi if not Islamabad as well. First, it exacerbated tensions between India and Pakistan and disrupted the ongoing peace process. Notwithstanding the views of prominent American journalists, this author remains dubious that the Pakistan army would ever want a rapprochement with India given that the security competition with India legitimises its sweeping role in running the state. The ensuing rupture in India-Pakistan relations may have re-energised an enervated Pakistan army that loathed Musharraf’s various policies.
http://newageislam.com/the-mumbai-attacks-and-indo-u.s.-relations-/war-on-terror/d/2132
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5:29 AM
Moderate Islamist here
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