-Caveat Lector- Kashmir Conflict Could Become War By KATHY GANNON .c The Associated Press ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- Exactly one year after India and Pakistan declared themselves nuclear powers, a decades-old border dispute is threatening to spin out of control into a full-scale war. It's a scary prospect in a region that has seen three wars in just 52 years; scarier still after Pakistan acknowledged that it has nuclear bombs in its arsenal and that its self defense rested on ``the bomb.'' ``If we didn't have the bomb, India would have occupied Kashmir by now,'' Pakistan's Information Minister Mushahid Hussein said last week. ``That's what the bomb means: Deterrence for security, for survival, for self-defense.'' The simmering Kashmir dispute has now escalated from the usual back-and-forth allegations and exchange of artillery along the disputed frontier to a point not seen in 28 years. India's air force was called in Wednesday, flying missions aimed at blasting out infiltrators entrenched in Indian territory about 435 miles north of the capital, New Delhi. India says the infiltrators include Afghan mercenaries and Pakistan army soldiers disguised as guerrillas. Pakistan denies the charge. On Sunday, Indian jets and helicopter gunships continued to pound rebel positions in the jagged Himalayan mountains, and the military said troops were bracing for close-quarters combat. The last time India and Pakistan went to war was in 1971, over Bangladesh. Their two previous wars were over Kashmir. A Muslim insurrection broke out in the Indian-held part of Kashmir 10 years ago. Kashmir is the only Muslim-dominated region in largely Hindu India. Pakistan, an Islamic republic, says Kashmiris should have the right to self-determination. In the latest fighting, militant Kashmiri secessionists say they captured several mountain posts that belonged to India, while Indian officials say it was the Pakistan military that took the posts, and later turned them over to the militants they had armed. The fighting has prompted particular concern because of last year's nuclear tests. Still, world reaction to the dispute has been limited. ``The international community should take a more serious view of things than they have taken so far,'' said Tanvir Ahmed Khan, of the Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad. ``The potential of this thing getting out of hand has not been fully understood. It is wrong to treat this as just another line-of-control skirmish.'' But the international community has a poor track record in South Asia, taken by surprise when India conducted its nuclear tests last year despite months of threats from New Delhi. If world powers stay quiet now, it could send the wrong message, Khan warned. ``The message will be that we will become more engaged if you make it more desperate,'' he said. ``What is the international community waiting for, for one or the other to fire a nuclear bomb?'' DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
