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The Right Response To Slaughter In Mumbai

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 29, 2008

No city can be prepared for the kind of killers who struck Mumbai over the past three days. About 30 well-armed men carried out coordinated attacks on hospitals, tourist hotels, upscale restaurants, a train station and a Jewish center.

Officials in India immediately assumed the suicidal mission was launched from neighboring Pakistan, which is a reasonable guess considering terrorists are using that country as a base from which to attack U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

But Pakistani officials are also correct that the Mumbai terrorists are part of a larger enemy that also jeopardizes Pakistan and the stability of the entire region.

A priority of the United States must be to help the two nuclear-armed rivals find areas of agreement and effective ways to find and eliminate the terrorist leaders.

One goal of the terrorists, beyond raising the cost of doing business, is to fuel religious hatred and even ignite war. Initial reports said nine of the killers had been taken alive and that three of them said they belonged to a Pakistan-based group trying to kick India out of Kashmir. But a different Islamist group also claimed responsibility.

What is clear is that ringleaders, safely away from the gun fight, are today congratulating themselves for having recruited, trained and equipped these young men. They came into the city carrying automatic weapons, explosives and bags of almonds to munch on so they could keep fighting for days.

Police think they arrived at night by ship. They came ashore in dinghies, and then split up into small teams. One of the first targets of their rage was a cafe displaying an Elvis Presley photo. They shot anyone who got in their way, but were especially looking for people with American or British passports.

Assuming that is accurate report, this remains India's fight, not ours. The war on terror requires a unified response, but it does not require the United States to put itself between any foreign government and its terrorist adversaries.

The city of Mumbai has more people than the state of Florida and is capable of defending itself.

Targeting Westerners is likely an attempt to hurt the economy of the international financial center. India, with a majority Hindu population, has a faster-growing economy than Pakistan, which is predominately Muslim.

Terrorists' leaders find their recruits among angry young men who have little hope of finding work. It is important to find and eliminate these leaders, but it is also important that economic growth continue in the region.

There are an estimated 25 million people unemployed in the Arab states, and some 10 million of them are young men. Jobs are scarce but guns are plentiful.

Economists predict that unless economic reforms bring increased opportunities for work, by 2020 the numbers of Arab unemployed will be 100 million.

Muslim groups were quick to join Jewish groups and others worldwide in condemning the Mumbai attacks.

But until a way is found to give the upcoming generation in that part of the world a political voice and economic hope, there is more trouble ahead than the military can handle.

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