India’s (and the world’s) priority should be to avert a humanitarian disaster
If the fate of the hapless Tamil civilians is the world’s principal consideration with regard to the war in Sri Lanka, then it stands to reason that that war itself must come to an end as soon as possible. It is unrealistic to expect [...]
The idea of ’surgical strikes’ has gained popularity in drawing room and public house conversations after the terrorist attacks on Mumbai. Srinath Raghavan & Rudra Chaudhuri explain why they are not such a good idea (linkthanks Dhruva).
‘Surgical strikes’, we are told, could go a long way in destroying terrorist camps and infrastructure located in [...]
Pakistan’s military mobilisation bogey didn’t work—it only exposed the army’s hand in the Mumbai attacks
It is hard to say whether the good retired brigadier Shaukat Qadir actually believes in his own fairy tale or is merely trying to make the skunk smell good in public. For he argues that “the token withdrawal of troops from [...]
…involving India, that is
To all of you who asked if there’s going to be a war between the armed forces of India and Pakistan—the answer is no. The Prime Minister of India himself said so. His word should be good enough on this matter.
And this is not the time for irresponsible talk
Direct military strikes against Pakistan in retaliation for the terrorist attack on Mumbai are not in India’s interests. [See these posts] There is little chance of that happening. So voluble souls like NDTV’s Barkha Dutt must just shut up, to put it politely. The TV media has [...]
Non-interference and its unhappy consequences
It’s not over until it’s over—and there is some fight left in the LTTE yet—but judging from available news reports, it is clear that the Tamil Tigers are cornered in Kilinochchi and a few other towns. The ripples of the situation have crossed the Palk Strait and have already rocked politics [...]
Reversing the Kunduz airlift
Those who know the history of the Pakistani army’s battles won’t find this least surprising: very often, “mujahideen leaders” carry documents that identify them as Pakistani military officers.
British officials covered up evidence that a Taliban commander killed by special forces in Helmand last year was in fact a Pakistani military officer, according [...]
A question of superior force, superior tactics and resolve
Sushant Sareen’s piece on the psy-war in Afghanistan makes an important point:
Even more galling is the nonsense being peddled that this war is not winnable and that the Pashtun lands are the graveyards of empires past and present. Not only is this historically incorrect, it is also [...]
Pakistani troops fire at US helicopters
Bruce Loudon might have gotten it right. Because wire services are reporting that Pakistani troops fired at a heliborne US raiding party near Angoor Adda, South Waziristan (or, if you prefer the ISPR spin, the Pakistani soldiers sounded their bugles to alert the tribesmen who then fired at the Americans). [...]
Here’s an interesting paper by Roger Boesche on the Kautilyan doctrine of war and diplomacy:
Whereas Carl von Clausewitz said that war is just an extension of domestic politics, Kautilya argued that diplomacy is really a subtle act of war, a series of actions taken to weaken an enemy and gain advantages for oneself, all with [...]
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