Pakistan's Moment in the Spotlight...

Over the past few days evidence has been accumulating that Pakistan's intelligence agency was directly involved in planning, preparing, and executing the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Here's a nice summary by Bill Roggio:

Ajmal Amir Kasab, the only Mumbai terrorist captured by Indian police, admitted his 10-man team trained in Lashkar camps in Pakistan with the support of the Inter-Service Intelligence agency and launched their attack from the Pakistani port city of Karachi.

Sabauddin Ahmed and Fahim Ansari, two other Lashkar operatives detained earlier this month, also confirmed elements of Shah and Kasab's account.

Meanwhile, the United States is pressuring Pakistan to turn over Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, the military commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, Dawn reported. The US has provided Pakistan with communications intercepts between Lakhvi and the Mumbai terrorists. Lakhvi was also detained by Pakistani police during the sweeps against Lashkar offices and camps.

Immediately after the Mumbai attack, Indian police recovered a satellite phone with a number that was directly traced to Lakhvi in Muzaffarabad. Indian intelligence also intercepted conversations between Yusuf Muzammil, a senior Lashkar operative and the Mumbai attacks.

Pakistan rejects Indian, US, and UK evidence

Pakistan has rejected the evidence of Lashkar’s complicity in Mumbai that was turned over by India, the US, and the UK. Pakistani officials said the information is "inadmissible in court," Dawn reported. "They said that since the confessions had been obtained under severe pressure by the Indians, this could not be admissible in judicial process. They have insisted that the information provided would not stand scrutiny in any court."

But Pakistan has been duplicitous in the investigation of Kasab's nationality, refusing to admit he is even a Pakistani despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Pakistan's position on Kasab, which US intelligence views as "incontrovertible," has frustrated US officials.

So it is obvious – and “incontrovertible” – that Pakistan's forces were directly involved. So far, Pakistan is dodging responsibility, doing exactly the opposite of what any rational country would do. They're protecting the people who did this. What's going on?

The only explanation I can think of is that Pakistan's government really does support the terrorism against India. It fits in with the overall ideology (based on radical Islam) of the recently elected Pakistani government. It is, in fact, an example of what many observers feared would happen when that government was elected.

This is a great example of the weakness of one of the left's standard positions: talking to the Pakistanis is failing, and will continue to fail. Some kind of well-enforced sanctions might coerce the Pakistanis into something resembling good behavior, but it won't change their beliefs and it will breed resentment (does anyone remember what happened in Germany after the Treaty of Versailles?). And don't forget that the Pakistanis have proven their ability to produce functioning nuclear weapons that they can deliver via missile...

Sometimes force is the only thing that actually solves this sort of dispute. Though those on the left would be loathe to admit this, in fact the application of force has successfully and lastingly resolved more international disputes than any other method ever tried. Most likely that's why wars are a recurring phenomenon. I'm not saying this is a good thing; I'm just observing a historical fact.

And suspecting that's where we're headed on this occasion...