Looks Like India, Pakistan Ready for War Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit LOOKS LIKE INDIA AND PAKISTAN READY FOR WAR [All it takes is a little provocation, like like last week's attack on the Parliament of India. Poof, World War III gets another two players, and Dim Son's little dilemma over his new muslim allies in Pakistan is solved. Only problem is, this skirmish of the Great Terror Crusade is likely to go nuclear. The following are mostly from Indian sources. ] * Punishment will be as big as crime: PM - Times of India * Advani blames ISI for attack on Parliament - Times of India * Indian, Pak troops exchange fire along LoC - PTI * Terrorists panicked, gave game away - Times of India * India debunks Pakistan's offer of joint probe - PTI * India has "few options" - Times of India * Deep-strike covert operation difficult: Official - Times of India * Don't bother about world reaction, BJP tells govt-PTI * India, Tajik security dialogue begins tomorrow-PTI . Punishment will be as big as crime: PM NEW DELHI, Dec 18--The punishment for last week's terrorist attack on Parliament will be as big as the crime, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee vowed Tuesday. He also questioned the logic of appeals by foreign countries to India for restraint. In a meeting with BJP MPs just before the Parliament reconvened Tuesday, Vajpayee said Thursday's terrorist attack was the "most dangerous" challenge so far to India's national security. "The punishment will be as big as the crime," Vajpayee was quoted as saying by BJP spokesman V K Malhotra after the meeting. "It is an attack on our country and we will decide the punishment." Vajpayee said it was providence which came to the rescue of Parliament on December 13 to enable "us to complete the unfinished task of rooting out the terrorist menace in the country", Malhotra said. He said the Prime Minister told members that their feelings on destruction of terrorist training camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir was understandable but asked them "leave it to the government to take a decision on this matter". Rejecting offers of a joint probe by Pakistan Vajpayee said, "It is an open court where everybody can watch the proceedings but there will be no joint probe." "Some people have been asking us to exercise restraint. We have been exercising restraint. I want to ask them what this will result in," Vajpayee said. The five gunmen were killed in the assault on Parliament, which left eight others dead, most of them security personnel. India says the operation was backed by ISI, the Pakistani military intelligence and executed by two Pakistan-based Islamic guerrilla groups, the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed. Pakistan condemned the attack, denied the involvement of its secret services and warned India against any reprisal. "The crime has been committed on our soil, so we will probe it and we will punish it," Vajpayee said, adding that documents had been sent to Pakistan, including evidence pointing to the involvement of the Pakistan-based militant outfits. BJP sources told Times News Network that the Prime Minister will call a meeting of the leaders of all political parties on Wednesday to discuss the security situation. The Oppn has been criticial of the government, both inside and outside Parliament, that it had not been taken into confidence over the government's response to the terror attack. The sources said the Prime Minister had, in fact, decided to call the meet even before the House met Tuesday. Significantly, the Prime Minister told the party MPs that the government will talk to allies and the Opposition regarding the steps that will be taken. The process has already begun with the Prime Minister holding talks with Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Manmohan Singh, on Monday evening. Malhotra added that the PM has already held discussions with National Democratic Alliance partners. (TIMES NEWS NETWORK & AGENCIES) * Advani blames ISI for attack on Parliament TIMES NEWS NETWORK NEW DELHI, Dec 18--Home Minister L K Advani on Tuesday said the December 13 terror attack on Parliament was a joint operation by the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed, two Pakistan-based terrorist organisations backed by the ISI. Advani said all terrorists who participated in the attack were Pakistani nationals. While reiterating that the sacrifices by the security personnel will not be allowed to go in vain, he said the Indian people were united and determined to stamp out terrorism Making a suo moto statement in the Lok Sabha on the sequence of events and the investigation into the attacks, Advani said a Pakistan national, Ghazi Baba, co-ordinated the operation. Calling it the most audacious and alarming attack in the two-decade long history of Pakistan-aided terrorism in India, Advani said the Kandahar hijacking, attacks on Red Fort and J&K Assembly had all been masterminded by the ISI. Advani said the attack was aimed at wiping out the entire political leadership of the country which could have led to a national catastrophe. Pakistan is unable to reconcile itself to a secular India whose standing in world society is getting inexorably higher, Advani said in the statement. Earlier on Monday, Advani, who was in Ahmedabad, said people should be patient. "The whole nation should be prepared and understand," Advani said about the government's response to the terror attacks. "Adheerta se kaam nahin chalege (impatience will not do)," he said, adding even the US did not respond immediately after the September 11 terrorist strikes in New York and Washington. He described the terrorist strike as an attack on the democratic system and the nation. Stating that September 11 and December 13 would be remembered for challenge to democratic civilisation, he said however that a "terrible catastrophe" was averted by securitymen by foiling the attempt of five heavily-armed terrorists to enter the Parliament House. Meanwhile, in the Parliament, the Opposition on Tuesday said the government's "failure" was responsible for the terrorist attack but declared it would be united behind any well considered step the government took to meet the grave challenge posed by Pak-backed terrorists. Participating in a special discussion on Home Minister L K Advani's statement on the December 13 incident, they wanted the government to give up "divisive" issues like the Prevention of Terrorism Bill. Initiating the discussion, Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav said in the Lok Sabha that the government should own up its "mistakes" as the Prime Minister had remarked a day earlier that Parliament could be attacked. "We consider the attack as a grave challenge to the nation. We also consider it as a shameful example of the government's failure," he said adding since security of the country is the biggest issue, the entire Opposition would be with the fovernment if it took any well considered action. Demanding that a meeting of the National Integration Council be convened to deliberate on the situation, he said if the government was serious in tackling the issue, it would have taken the Opposition into confidence by now. Yadav made a scathing attack on the BJP-led government's foreign policy alleging that not a single country was speaking in support of India in its "hour of crisis". Meanwhile, Opposition members in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday blamed the attack on a security lapse but said they were firmly behind the government in any step it took to counter terrorism. In the Rajya Sabha, Opposition leader Manmohan Singh (Congress) said though the Opposition stood firmly behind the government in this challenging hour, the Centre could have been more alert in preventing such attacks. Stating that most of the information given by the government in the statement on Tuesday in the House had already been reported, Singh said the Congress joined the "countrymen in condemning the dastardly terrorist attack on Parliament". Earlier, Chairman Krishan Kant suspended the Question Hour and took up for discussion the attack on Parliament. * Indian, Pak troops exchange fire along LoC JAMMU, Dec 18 (PTI)--Close on the heels of an increase in movement by Pakistani troops on the border areas, Indian and Pakistani troops have exchanged fire at several points on the international border, defence sources said here on Tuesday. There were no reports of loss of life or property from anywhere following the exchange of fire, the sources said. The exchange occurred at Kanachak, Gole Pattan, Panjour in Jammu district and at Mangu Chak, Sadhey Chak, Dalma Chak and Chachwali in Kathua district, they said. There were also reports of mortar shelling in some places along the Line of Control in Poonch and Rajouri sectors of Jammu. Pakistani troops were expected to go back on December 9 after their winter exercise but were retained in the border areas, the sources said. (PTI) * Terrorists panicked, gave game away TIMES NEWS NETWORK NEW DELHI, Dec 18--Top Jaish-e-Mohammad leadership's decision to let even the frontline members of the suicide squad in on the plan only at the last minute cost them dear. Much of the lack of coordination was caused by the extreme secrecy and the delay in selecting the target. Investigators now believe Mohammad, the head of the suicide squad, could not brief his accomplices adequately about their individual roles in the attack. ''The militants had prepared two plans -- of attacking either the airport or Parliament. In fact, Mohammad got the message to head for Parliament just minutes before the attack,'' said an investigator. But clearly the militants were inexperienced, especially the driver of the Ambassador. Firstly, he alerted the guards when he drove too fast as he entered Gate No. 2 of Parliament. Then, he mistook a vacant area as a parking lot and turned left. By now the security personnel sensed something amiss and challenged him. ''He lost his nerve, took a U-turn to return to the main carriage way and in doing so rammed into one of the cars in Vice President Krishan Kant's convoy,'' he said. They had now caused enough of a commotion and when men from Kant's security detail confronted them, they had no option but to jump out and start firing: thus revealing their deadly game prematurely. Thankfully, the impact (with Kant's car and another accident en route), loosened the wires of the detonator in the Ambassador which was to be used to blow up the porch of Parliament. ''The idea was to divert the attention of the securitymen with the blast and gain entry into Parliament,'' said the officer. But the wired-up car was now a dud thanks to the collisions. With their plan going awry, the suicide squad panicked. ''They obviously didn't have a pre-determined plan and started spraying bullets in all directions,'' he said. They had no fall-back plan either. They made the mistake of splitting up, becoming easy targets. ''Being together would have meant heavier fire from them and a chance for at least one to break through,'' said the officer with much relief. * India debunks Pakistan's offer of joint probe NEW DELHI, Dec 18 (PTI)--Minister of state for external affairs Omar Abdullah on Monday debunked Pakistan's offer of a joint probe into Thursday's attack on Parliament House saying Islamabad had already shown its lack of "seriousness" by blaming Indian intelligence agencies for the attack. One really feels surprised. First Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf is quick enough to condemn the audacious attack and the very next day Pakistan blames us for the same," Abdullah told PTI here. He said Musharraf had the habit of eating his own words like militant outfits operating from Pakistani soil. "Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) was quick enough to own the responsibility for the October 1 attack on Jammu and Kashmir state assembly which was later withdrawn following pressures from ISI," Abdullah said and wondered "whether Musharraf is also governed by ISI." Abdullah said, "Now after the clinching evidence in the ghastly attack on Parliament proving Pakistani involvement, the incident was enough of an "eye opener" for the world about Islamabad's nefarious designs to keep the south Asian region "unstable". "I do not know why they are jealous of our age-old democracy. First an attack was carried out at Jammu and Kashmir state assembly and now Parliament," Abdullah said. He said the fool proof evidence gathered by police and central intelligence agencies against Pakistan attracted the United Nations Resolution 1373 and on terrorism and "now the world body needs to react." Abdullah did not rule out the possibility of India striking militant camps in Pakistan but said this is not the "first and immediate option" availaible with the government. "We are not a country eager for a fight. Hot pursuit is not our first and immediate option but the same is not ruled out if diplomatic channels fail," he said. Abdullah said Foreign Secretary Chokila Iyer had summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Ashraf Jehangir Qazi and made out a demarche setting out the three demands which included stopping the activities of two militant organisations. "We are following the standard rules laid by the United Nations and I still hope against hope that Pakistan will respond to it," Abdullah said. He said it was not necessary that there should be military action to flush out terrorists since it could risk a full-fledged war with Pakistan. "Nobody is talking about full-fledged war. There can be a possibility of a pinpoint covert action to take on camps that are operating from Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir," he said. Abdullah said he did not see in which way Pakistan could make a fuss about such an action as they have no business operating those camps in the first place. (PTI) * INDIA HAS FEW OPTIONS by Manoj Joshi, Times News Network NEW DELHI: Even though the mood in the country for a punch-up with Pakistan is high for its role in the December 13 attack on Parliament, military officials and diplomats say the options before India are limited. A better alternative, they say, would be a diplomatic offensive demanding the return from Pakistan of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar, whom India was compelled to free in exchange for the release of the passengers of the hijacked IC 814 Indian Airlines flight to Kandahar in December 1999. ''Demanding Azhar's return gives Islamabad a chance to claim that they are fighting terrorism without appearing to bow to India's demarche,'' says a serving diplomat, pointing out that Pakistan has already banned Jaish. If India's campaign is backed with good evidence, Pakistan will have to comply and the process would result in driving a bigger wedge between the Pakistan Army and the jihadis. The Government of India has so far not done anything more than mouth-tough rhetoric. After opposing a legislation to fight terrorism, leaders like Mulayam Singh Yadav and V P Singh are now joining the BJP hawks in calling on the government to bomb terrorist training camps in PoK. But almost all military officials agree that the country lacks the military capacity to conduct punitive strikes on Pakistani territory. ''India cannot and should not emulate the US or Israel,'' says a retired diplomat. An Army general confirms this. ''It took two divisions of infantry and an artillery division to evict a brigade worth of intruders from their positions in the Kargil heights. So you can calculate what it would take to push into PoK against prepared Pakistani Army positions.'' Any movement minus air superiority over the area would be suicidal, the general adds. This is what obtains in the case of the US and Taliban and Israel and the Palestinians, but ''this is not the situation between India and Pakistan.'' He points out that India lost three fighter aircraft in Kargil even though the Pakistan Air Force was out of the picture. After claiming that Indian agencies masterminded the attack, Pakistani official spokesman Maj-Gen Rashid Qureshi backed off and said there ought to be a joint inquiry into the event. Meanwhile, Pakistan's president Pervez Musharraf has warned India against any adventurism. India's dilemma has been compounded by the ambiguous US position. Secretary of State Colin Powell has recognised India's right to undertake any action for its legitimate self-defence, but has said that New Delhi needs to exercise restraint. * Deep-strike covert operation difficult: Official Siddharth Srivastava, Times News Network NEW DELHI, Dec 18--While military officials have said that India does not have the capability to conduct punitive strikes against Pakistan-based terrorist camps, experts say that even pulling off a covert operation against Pakistan is not going to be easy. According to defence experts, there can be two kinds of secret operations that India can conduct. One, military, and second, an ISI-kind of approach managed by India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). "As far as the military option is concerned, India does not have the capability of such an operation," says Defence expert Raja Menon. "In order to pull off a special forces kind of action, one has to have the back-up of satellite surveys, night-flying capabillity, as well as laser designated attacks. India has none of these," said Menon. At the most, experts say, India can conduct forays across the Line of Control (LoC) that are not deep into Pakistan. The forays would entail only night-long operations aimed at static targets wherein the risk of detection is minimal. However, many training camps are located deep inside Pakistani territory which will be out of reach of the Indian troops. Staying on for the day would be very difficult. "Flying into Pakistani territory is going to be fraught with risks," says General Ashok Mehta (retired). "I can only foresee ground troops moving in, which means that we cannot go in deep," he adds. Experts say that even an ISI kind of approach may not be as successful simply because RAW hasn't been conducting such exercises as consistently as ISI. "The problem with the Indian political system has been that they have not been consistent in the past in their support to operations against Pakistan," says Menon. "Only a consistent approach over a period of time is going to yield results," he adds. * Don't bother about world reaction, BJP tells govt Don't bother about world reaction, BJP tells govt-PTI India, Tajik security dialogue begins tomorrow-PTI NEW DELHI, Dec 18 (PTI)--Asserting that India must take action in response to the December 13 terrorist attack on the Parliament House, BJP president Jana Krishnamurty on Tuesday asked the government not to bother about the international reaction to take whatever steps it deems fit. He, however, left it to the government to decide the nature of the action and its timing, saying it was in the best position to gauge the preparedness. Stating that there were apprehensions among some sections on how US, UK and some other countries will react and whether India will get support, he asked "why should it bother us". Krishnamurty, who was inaugurating the two-day National Executive of BJP's youth wing BJP Yuva Morcha here, said, "We have to fight terrorism. If India does not fight, who will fight. We have been fighting foreigners for centuries and history is full of heroism. So why should we hesitate?" "Nothing should deter us... We have to fight our battle on our own whether any country comes with us or not," he said and added India has to win even if all nations try to put us down. The BJP chief welcomed Congress' decision to extend support to government in taking action against the December 13 strike and assured the main Opposition and other parties that any plan of action decided by the Vajpayee government would be 'well-thought out' one. The government is in consultation with all political parties on the issue of response and expressed confidence that a decision evolved would be 'National Action Plan', he said. Later, asked by reporters to comment on suggestions that India should cross the Line of Control, Krishnamurty said, "whatever line the government adopts, BJP will support it". The party will not suggest anything, the BJP chief said, adding the government was the best judge. He said the government is considering a response and a decision is expected soon. To a question, he said the UN Security Council Resolution on terrorism prescribed that any country has a right to take action to protect its security and sovereignty. On Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's declaration that it was now a decisive war, the BJP chief said there is tremendous public opinion in favour of eliminating terrorism wherever it comes from, whether Pakistan or any other country. "Our target is not Pakistan but terrorism wherever it comes from. Whether it comes from Pakistan or any other country, action has to be taken," Krishnamurty said. Referring to suggestions of strikes at terrorist training camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir like the US did against Afghanistan, he said the Prime Minister, Home Minister L K Advani, Defence Minister George Fernandes and the defence forces have a firm resolve that terrorism has to be fought and won. "Whatever steps the government takes, if it retaliates, there may be sufferings and we may have to pay any price," he said, adding there should be no let up in efforts till the country succeeds in eliminating terrorism. Krishnamurty told BJP leaders to go to the people in villages and towns, apprise them of the December 13 incident and prepare them to support the response to it. "There is a need for mobilising the crystalised opinion of the nation," he said. Referring to the December 13 incident, he said it was not "altogether unexpected" as there was such an apprehension and the government had increased security from three-tier to four-tier. "The attack took place but was not successful. Terrorists entered the Parliament complex but could not succeed in entering the Parliament building due to the marvelous job done by our security personnel," he said. Drawing a comparison between the September 11 terrorist strikes in New York and Washington and attack on Parliament, he said, "though the US is a super-power having all kinds of electronic surveillance, it could not prevent the attack. "On the contrary, our nation is no such super-power, still the terrorists plan was foiled. It means that only electronic surveillance can't ensure security. There is a need for people who are ready to die and our security personnel are of such kind." BJP Yuva Morcha president Shivraj Singh Chauhan termed the December 13 incident as an attack on India's self-respect and favoured a decisive fight. He said the country should not rest till terrorism was eliminated completely here, "whether it is aar par (decisive) fight or seema par (across the border)". He said BJPYM will organise programmes throughout the country from December 25, birthday of Vajpayee, till January 12, birthday of Swami Vivekananda, to mobilise support of people and collect Re 1 from each family for security forces. "We want action as national security is of prime importance and it is time to do it," Chauhan said. He also demanded a probe to see whether madrassas in the country were breeding terrorism. The BJPYM National Executive, which ends on Wednesday, will pass a resolution against terrorism.(PTI) * India, Tajik security dialogue begins tomorrow NEW DELHI, Dec 18 (PTI)--Heading a five member high level delegation, Tajikistan Defence Minister Col General Sher Ali Khairulloev will open a crucial level security dialogue with India on his three day official visit here starting from Wednesday. Gen Khairulloev's talks with the Defence Minister George Fernandes and External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh are likely to focus on rapid developments in neighbouring Afghanistan and fine-tuning the two countries' joint approach on the issue. The three service Chiefs Gen S Padmnabhan, Air Chief Marshal A Y Tipnis and Admiral Sushil Kumar will call on him on December 21. The two sides would hold delegation level talks on Wednesday and on friday. The Tajik Defence Minister will hold talks with the National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra and also visit Agra. His visit here coincides with New Delhi despatching a second relief aircraft to Kabul on Wednesday. The aircraft is likely to bring back the new Afghan Defence Minister Gen Fahim for a short visit here.(PTI) [In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information see: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytas-12.18.01-07:14:35-11766