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Introspection and a Fresh Start
It may not be out of place in the beginning of the year to indulge in some introspection. We had started the year 2009 with bated breath but managed to move on without a major terrorist attack. One would, however, tend to agree with the candid assessment of the Union Home Minister that India remains vulnerable. As it has been said: “A year on, we are still sitting ducks.” Many experts have opined India was likely to face 26/11-like action again. Considering the above, IISSM started the year with a request to the corporate world to undertake security audit and suggested to the security professionals to indulge in self-audit also. Such practice would generate the required level of confidence that we are on the right track. After all, “security is, as we say, a business of all, for all and by all.
A chapter in the international scenario was closed with the LTTE supremo Prabhakaran being killed on May 18, 2009. Is that the end of LTTE? Pakistan has been at the receiving end from the Talibans in a big way, and has been assessed to be an almost “failed State”. The Russian assessment was - Pakistan was the principal nuclear threat. Yemen is now considered to be the new base for Al-Qaeda. Japan and China have come under the scanner of Al-Qaeda. A “university of jihad” has come to notice at the Darul Uloom Haggania campus at Akara Khattak. The Maoist leader in Nepal, Prachanda, had resigned the post of the Prime Minister and is now engaged in a movement for bringing in “a new communist revolution”. The Maoists in India have virtually declared an open war against the government of the land with call for blood-bath, if necessary. Incidents of Maoist violence in India recorded the highest number during the year 2009. Bangladesh had faced a serious situation of revolt in its border force (BDR) when the top leadership of the force was wiped out by disgruntled jawans. The US troops withdrew from the Iraqi cities but President Obama ordered a new surge in Afghanistan with the caution for phased withdrawal within a short period. But the next war, as the UN predicted, would be in the cyber space. US experts have, therefore, warned of what has been described as “Cybergeddon”. The United States have accordingly decided to set up an independent Cyber Command. China has been reported to have successfully infiltrated into the computer network of many countries.
The old order yielded to the new when the LDP in Japan lost control after 53 years of unbroken rule. Earlier, China and Taiwan had met at the highest political level. The European Parliament sorted out a big crisis by agreeing to elect the Belgian Prime Minister as the President of the European Commission. Israel has in principle accepted the creation of a Palestinian State. The US President in a historic speech on June 4, 2009, at Cairo, declared that US was not at war with Islam, and in a surprise of surprise, Obama was awarded the Noble Peace Prize. Russia has formally called off its 10-year long war in Chechenya.
The scientific world saw a large number of achievements. The largest scientific experiment in history, namely, Large Hadron Collider, has restarted. An IAF pilot created history by parachute landing on top of Mount Everest. Nepal held a Cabinet meeting at an Everest base, whereas Maldives had its first under-water cabinet meeting. The fastest ever 100-metre (9.58 second) has been run by Usain Bolt of Jamaica.
Developments in the last month of the year 2009 had indeed been significant. World leaders had met at Copenhagen “to save the Earth”. India signed a nuclear deal with Russia, believed to be superior to the civil nuclear deal 123 between US and India. Reiterating their faith in violence, a Maoist leader in India was on record stating that there was no need for counting the number of dead as there would be more violence. They are now credited with a fund of over INR 1600 crores. London, earlier declared to be the ‘divorce capital’ of the world, has now been described as the ‘terror capital’ of the world with the warning ‘Mumbai is going to London’. There was a serious bid to blow up a US airliner that could have created another history. The ‘virtual war’ in Afghanistan has been assessed to be a more serious threat than the physical war going on.
Mankind may soon find great relief against the most serious disease, – the scientists have claimed they have decoded ‘cancer’. Snoring has been found to be not as bad as it was thought to be. A rotating house has been devised to avail of sunshine round the clock. The booking for 3-nights’ stay in a space hotel by 2012 has been thrown open. A mathematical law of war has been developed and it might help fight terrorism. One would also like to read the story of “power of tongue” and “glass of milk” in the General File.
In a sort of records, IISSM got two very significant books on industrial security published under its aegis during the year 2009. IISSM’s XIXth Annual International Seminar (December 8-11, 2009) in New Delhi had attracted more than 200 registered delegates, coming from far and wide. Was it a reward for efforts to live up to the New Year pledge of 2009 to put in a bit extra work? Readers are the best judge. We take a fresh start now for the year 2010 and hope you all are with us.
Thanking you and with best regards,
D. C. Nath, IPS (Retd.)
Former Special Director, IB (MHA), Govt. of India,
Executive President & CEO,
International Institute of Security and Safety Management,
New Delhi, India.
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Lashkar-e-Taiba’s long arm: A View
“Very few things,” United States counter-terrorism official David Benjamin said in a recent speech, “worry me as much as the strength and ambition of the Lashkar-e-Taiba.” The arrest of Pakistani-American jihadist David Headley, alleged to have carried out the reconnaissance that enabled a ten-man assault team to kill over 160 people in Mumbai last November, could prove a significant step forward in delivering justice to the victims of the horrific attack. But the arrest has also underlined the reach of the Lashkar’s transnational networks, which give South Asia’s most dangerous jihadist group global lethality. British-born Dhiren Bharot, held in 2005 for attempted bombings in the U.S., had trained with the Lashkar and fought with it in Jammu and Kashmir. French national Willie Brigitte, held for planning terrorist attacks in Australia, was another product of the Lashkar’s transnational operations. Lebanese national Assem Hammoud, held in April 2006 for planning to target Port Authority Trans-Hudson commuter trains running between New Jersey and New York, was preparing to travel to Pakistan to acquire the expertise he needed to do so. And just this week, five Washington, D.C. men were picked up in Sargodha, Punjab, where they had travelled to acquire military training.
Sadly, policy-makers across the world have been muddled in their responses to the threat. Like all violent crime, terrorism rests on two pillars: the intention to carry out terrorist acts, and the capabilities needed to do so. That the Federal Bureau of Investigation believes it arrested Mr. Headley on the eve of another attack in India demonstrates that Islamabad lacks either the influence or the will to rein in the Lashkar. The threat will remain until Pakistan finally acts to eliminate Lashkar capabilities, in the form of its training camps, recruiting tools, and finances. In the wake of the November attacks, Pakistan promised the United Nations Security Council that it would proscribe the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the Lashkar’s parent organisation. It is yet to do so. Mr. Headley’s upcoming trial on 12 terrorism-related charges, including the murder of six U.S. nationals in the Mumbai attacks, will cast substantial new light on the planning and conception of the carnage. The American trial is also likely to proceed with un-Indian speed. India would do well to facilitate the rapid progress of these legal proceedings, and to focus its investigative resources on discovering whether elements of the network, of which Mr. Headley was a part, are still active here. The wider challenge for New Delhi will be persuading the world to work with it to compel Islamabad to give up its rationalisation of inaction and deliver on its promise to dismantle the infrastructure of terror.
The Hindu – December 12, 2009.
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