India-Pakistan: Update. An Indian prosecutor in a special court in Mumbai said active duty members of the Pakistan Army and a serving major general oversaw the training of Lashkar-e-Taiba militants who carried out the deadly Mumbai attacks in November 2008, Press Trust of India reported 9 March. Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said in his final arguments that it could be inferred that the attack was state-sponsored.
The Hindu account is sharper. “The November 26 attack was not an ordinary attack by 10 indoctrinated terrorists. It was well orchestrated, meticulously planned and [reflected] a deep-seated hatred for our country. It was a classic case of sponsored terrorism. Evidence by the prosecution has successfully established that the attack was sponsored by Pakistan. Irrefutable inference [can be drawn] that it was sponsored by State actors involved in the security apparatus of Pakistan,” Mr. Nikam argued.
He said the Major General's name was not revealed to the attackers “undoubtedly because he was from the Pakistan Army.” “He is an entity separate from the Lashkar-e-Taiba [LeT]; he must have been the supreme authority running the training camp.”
Citing excerpts from the judicial confession statement of lone surviving terrorist Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab, recorded on 20 February 2009, Mr. Nikam said the Major General visited the training camps when military and intelligence training was being imparted to the attackers. He had enquired whether the trainees had any complaints and was keen that they completed the mission given by the LeT.
Comment: The Indians are serious about improving anti-terror cooperation, whereas Pakistan wants to restart a comprehensive dialogue. Pakistan has arrested terrorists from every group except those that target India. When that occurs, India will know Pakistan has abandoned terror as an instrument of state policy.
Since mid-January, Pakistan has done more to disrupt Pakistan-based terrorists and insurgents than any administration in a quarter century. But it has done little to suppress anti-Indian terrorists, which explains the public embarrassment of the Mumbai trial.
Phi Beta Iota: The tide has turned in the “Global War on Terror,” for a variety of reasons, with Malaysia, Indonesia, and Turkey being among those nations that merit huge respect for their steady secular approach to counter-terrorism, but two nations still stand out as state-sponsors of terrorism: Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan. Until the Americans stop lying to themselves and the public about their naive relationships with 42 of the 44 dictators on the planet, and their naive acceptance of Pakistan's deceit, Afghanistan will continue to be a “hurt locker.”
