[Assam] NYT Editorial

[Chan Mahanta]

The below from NY Times.

I am no writer, but picked up somewhere that in an essay, the main 
idea, the thrust of the piece, is to be found either in the opening 
or the concluding  paragraph.

Look at the last paragraph of the editorial. Only thing they did not 
include was Assam.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/01/opinion/01mon1.html?_r=1


***************************************************************************************************************The 
Horror in Mumbai

Published: November 30, 2008
We share the horror, the pain and the disbelief that Indians are 
feeling as they absorb the appalling details of the terrorist attacks 
in Mumbai that left nearly 200 dead. We also recognize and understand 
the questions Indians are asking themselves, and the anger they are 
feeling, about what some are calling their own 9/11.

How can their government have ignored the warning signs? A 2007 
report to Parliament warned that the country's shores were poorly 
protected - and some or all of the attackers arrived by boat. Why 
weren't the police and the army better prepared to respond? 
Sharpshooters outside the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower Hotel did not have 
telescopic sights, so they could not get off a shot for fear of 
killing hostages rather than the terrorists.
Most of all, who is to blame and who should pay the price for such cruelty?
Deccan Mujahedeen, the group that claimed responsibility - the term 
itself is so chillingly flawed - is unknown. But Indian and American 
intelligence officials saw signs pointing to Lashkar-e-Taiba, an 
Islamist group from the disputed region of Kashmir that is 
increasingly collaborating with the Taliban and Al Qaeda. What makes 
that especially frightening is that the group received training and 
support from Pakistan's intelligence services, before it was 
officially banned in 2002.
We fear that whoever was behind it, the carnage will unleash 
dangerous new furies between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan. And we 
fear it will divert even more of Pakistan's attention and troops away 
from fighting extremists on its western border with Afghanistan.
India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, has so far shown 
extraordinary forbearance. But there are already strong calls for him 
to retaliate - with or without proof of who was behind the attack. We 
urge him to carefully consider the consequences.
India's leaders must be very careful not to ignite a religious war 
inside their own borders. Any military confrontation with Pakistan 
would be hugely costly in human life. And even the threat of war 
would be hugely damaging to India's extraordinary economic progress.
The Bush administration must use all of its influence to ensure that 
India's leaders recognize these dangers. And it must assure the 
Indians that it will bring all of the pressure it can on Pakistan to 
cooperate fully with the investigation - no matter where it leads.
We were heartened when Pakistan's civilian government immediately 
agreed to send the new chief of the country's powerful intelligence 
agency, the ISI, to India. We hoped that meant the government was 
confident that the ISI played no role in the attack. Or that it was 
finally prepared to purge its ranks of all those who have aided and 
abetted extremists.
Unfortunately, the offer was quickly withdrawn after the Pakistani 
Army and opposition parties objected. The government then announced 
that a lower-level intelligence official would go at some point. By 
Saturday, Pakistani officials were blustering as if they were the 
victims. Despite all of the recent horrors Pakistan has suffered, its 
military and intelligence services still do not understand that the 
terrorists pose a mortal threat to their own country.
In coming days India will have to look inward to see where and how 
its government failed to protect its citizens. The United States is 
still learning the lessons of its own failures before 9/11, but it 
can help in the process.
Washington's most important role will be to urge the Indians and 
Pakistanis to step back from the brink. The next administration will 
then have to move quickly to encourage serious negotiations over the 
future of Kashmir and genuine cooperation to defeat extremists.