India asks for help in tracking terrorist

Telegraph:

Britain, America, Australia and Israel have been asked to track down Pakistani suspects thought to have been involved in the attack.

Indian officials said they wanted to ensure the terrorist groups knew they were no longer immune to retaliation.

The move will raise Pakistani fears that there could be a cross-border strike against the militants which India holds responsible for the attacks.

The threat of direct action or a targeted assassination is fraught with considerable risk for India. Even a cleanly executed attack on terrorist camps or leading figures held responsible for the Mumbai operation would further inflame Pakistani public opinion.

The development came as Indian officials acknowledged a series of intelligence failures preceded the Mumbai attacks, which saw 10 terrorists trained in Pakistan kill almost 200 civilians.

A US intelligence official revealed yesterday that India had received two warnings of a plot to attack Mumbai from the sea in the last month. It even listed specific targets, including the Taj Hotel.

The head of India's Navy gave the first official acknowledgement that "systemic" failures in handing intelligence had preceded to the attacks.

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The city had been on high alert but security measures at the attacked hotels had recently been relaxed

Indian intelligence intercepted a telephone call on November 18, indicating an attack on the commercial capital was planned but military and civil security services failed to act on the warnings.

The revelations from the US are likely to add to the growing sense of public anger that the attacks were not prevented.

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Indian officials said Israel expertise in striking at its enemies across borders and continents was widely envied. India has had to reply on diplomacy to contain its external terrorist threat but its officials are openly frustrated that attacks have continued.

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Repeated American incursions to carry out airstrikes and other attacks in the tribal areas near Afghanistan has triggered a popular backlash against Islamabad's close ties with Washington.

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That last quoted paragraph is causing me to have a backlash against the attitude of some in Pakistan. Those US attacks they are complaining about are happening because Pakistan has failed to control the bad guys who are using their real estate for attacking our allies in Afghanistan. The Pakistan position is just absurd. It goes something like this. "It is OK for the Taliban and al Qaeda to use our territory for launching strikes against people outside of Pakistan, but it is not OK for anyone to strike back at the terrorist."

That position is not rational and it is not acceptable. The same goes for the Lashkr forces responsible for the attacks on India. We should join with our allies in taking them out. Pakistan needs to either lead, follow or get out of the way in responding the what has taken place as a result of planning and training in Pakistan.

I think the Indian idea of bringing the others in will put more pressure on Pakistan.