India-Pakistan: The Perils of Porn

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May 2, 2007: Maoist violence in India isn't slowing down. Last year, there were 749 dead because of the Maoists, and this year, there were over 200 dead in the first four months of the year. About half the dead are in central Indias Chhattisgarh state. This is where many of the most active Maoist gangs operate, and in many parts of the state, the police stay away. Meanwhile, the tribal separatist violence in northeast India continues, with up to a dozen dead each week.

May 1, 2007: In Bangladesh, three crude bombs went off in railroad stations. Only one man was injured, and al Qaeda propaganda was found at the sites of two of the bombings. Islamic militants have been more energetic than effective in Bangladesh.

April 29, 2007: Indian counter-terror operations in Kashmir have reduced the number of active militants to about a thousand. Moreover, better border security has reduced terrorists crossing the border from Pakistan to about 500 a year for two years in a row. About half the terrorists in Kashmir are Pakistani, and many of them feel beaten and want to go home. So India and Pakistan are discussing a deal that would allow these terrorists to be "repatriated." Otherwise, India and Pakistan are deadlocked in their four years of peace talks over Kashmir. Mainly, India feels that Pakistan will not be able to control its Islamic militants, no matter what kind of deal is made.

April 28, 2007: An Islamic suicide bomber attacked a political rally presided over by the Interior Minister. At least 28 were killed, but the Interior Minister was only slightly injured and walked away from the scene.

April 27, 2007: The U.S. revealed that it had captured Abd al Hadi al Iraqi, a senior al Qaeda leader who had long operated out of Pakistan, directing operations across the border in Afghanistan. Al Iraqi was apparently caught, a few months ago, while crossing the border from Iran into Iraq. There, al Iraqi was apparently going to get involved in leading al Qaeda operations in Iraq. The CIA indicates that al Iraqi has provided useful information on al Qaeda operations throughout the region. Of particular interest were the meetings al Iraqi had with al Qaeda personnel in Iran. Apparently. al Iraqi was one of many al Qaeda members getting out of Pakistan because of deteriorating relations with the Taliban. It's possible that someone in Pakistan tipped off the Americans that al Iraqi was headed west.

April 26, 2007: Islamic militants have added Internet Cafes to their list of banned places. Having already attacked movie theaters and shops selling videos and music, the religious militants want to shut down Internet Cafes that rent private viewing booths, where one or two people can surf the net and whatever. The militants want to stop both activities. This is a tricky issue, as the Islamic militants depend on the Internet Cafes for communication services, and many jihadis like to catch a little porn from time to time.

 

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