Salmon Rushdie, a great author and astute observer of the Muslim world has some
interesting points on the India/Pakistan conflict in The New York Times. He argues that the West needs to intervene and send a peacekeeping force to demilitarize Kashmir. He asks:
Is it really likely, however, that Pakistan would, so to speak, strap a nuclear weapon to its belly, walk into the crowded bazaar that is India and turn itself into the biggest suicide bomber in history?
Musharraf is unlikely to do so, but if someone else takes power, that scenario becomes more and more likely. That’s why Rushdie is right that the West needs to get involved and take these two powers away from the brink. Unfortunately, with our military busy elsewhere, and the Europeans having almost no military ability whatsoever, and the Russians equally overstretched, just who can do so is an open question.
