Shashi Tharoor on Terror Attacks

A very interesting interview I grabbed from ibnlive.com

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Former Undersecretary General of the United Nations Shashi Tharoor says the Mumbai attacks have united the world in India’s support. Discussing India’s options, Tharoor said a military option against India would be an utter folly.

CNN-IBN: The international community has come out in a support of India. You said last night the Jehadis have made powerful enemies in the Mumbai attacks. What did you mean?

Tharoor: The fact is that most of the tragedies that have affected us from terror in the recent years had only killed Indians and therefore for the rest of the world was seen as an Indian problem. What happened in Mumbai in addition – to the terrible toll that it has taken in our country and our people – is that it also killed over 20 foreigners and the governments of those countries to which the victims belong are not prepared to take this lightly. Certainly it was the clearest indication to America, Britain, France and Israel that India has now become the theatre for the enactment of a global drama that this is now the same enemy here; that they had there and in all parts of the world became manifestly clear. And for the first time in a real concrete life and death manner these countries became our direct allies.

CNN-IBN: India was able to get UNSC sanctions against the jamaat ud dawa and top terror leaders- you are a un veteran- in real terms what does that mean? can the list be enforced?

Tharoor: We want more than house arrest. We want genuine prosecution. We want them to be brought to account for their triumphs with whatever appropriate court jurisdiction that Pakistan can muster. Pak is also saying to us at a certain level that this is also their problem, they are also victims. And it is true. The Marriot Hotel bombing took Pakistani lives, (so did) Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, so their are people in Pakistan, particularly in the present civilian government who feel that the people who have done this to us could also do it to them and to that degree there is a common enemy. What they are afraid of is that in acting against those forces, they would come up against extreme opposition within their own military ranks. We don’t know how high that goes - is it being orchestrated at the very top of the Pakistani military and the ISI? Or is it merely being condoned? Is it taking place at the middle and senior levels but not at the very top? We don’t know and we don’t even know if Pak’s government knows. But we know that they are being careful not to cross certain red lines of the military so that they don’t end up being overthrown as every single civilian government in Pakistan has been before completing its term in office.

CNN-IBN: Does India still have a military option left? Hot pursuit, surgical strikes?

Tharoor: The military option would be utter folly. It's exactly what the terrorists want us to do. And there is no such thing as a limited or surgical military option. If you conduct an attack and bomb a few sites, you'd achieve very little because these sites can easily be reconstructed. These training camps involve a few barracks, a few ropes for them to climb, a few hurdles for them to jump and a target and rifle range practice. This is not something that takes effort to reconstruct in any open space in Pakistan. Bombing 2-3 of these is not going to solve anything for us. By doing that we will unite both those who are relatively sympathetic to us and those who are hostile to us under the common banner of Pakistani nationalism. Whatever your differences with the military or ISI if India is attacking your country you are going to rally behind the flag, and that’s what the terrorists want.