Military bus explodes in Kashmir, 28 soldiers killed

[dArKeR]

Srinagar, India — Suspected Islamic militants blew up a military bus in India's portion of Kashmir on Sunday, killing at least 28 soldiers and relatives, and wounding 15 just a day after the new Indian prime minister was sworn in.


The attack was one of the worst in recent times and is the first security test for new Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who has pledged to make the Kashmir crisis and relations with rival Pakistan a main priority of his minority government.


The bomb was planted under a small bridge along a road connecting the cities of Srinagar and Jammu, Border Security Force spokesman Neeraj Sharma said.

http://theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040523.windia0523/BNStory/Front/

I believe aWol when he says world terrorism is down? Where did he get those numbers from?

[kalian]

1. This isn't "terrorism"....

militants attacked a legit target: military personnel.
Now, what do you call an Apache gunship shredding wedding party
attendants...? :shrug: I call that terrorism.

Stop using the bushistas Orwellian double-speak. Pisses me off!

[cosmicone]

5. I disagree

It is uncoubtedly terrorism albeit disguised. The soldiers were in their own country where free and fair elections were held just weeks ago. There is a democratic avenue to control the state of Jammu and Kashmir which the terrorists fail to utilize because they lack popular support.

This is the DIRECT result of the Bush administration stabbing India in the back and naming the terrorist Pakistan as a Major non-NATO ally. The fact that Colon Bowell didn't even have the courtesy to inform New Delhi of this beforehand was a major snub and was partially responsible for the defeat of the Vajpayee government.

Pakistan funded, supported and armed terrorists are doing this routinely in India and Bush's support of Pakistan emboldens them to carry out such attacks.

Bush needs Pakistan to catch Osama before October and is being blackmailed by Pervaiz Musharraf.

It is time the democrats realized that Pakistan is a military dictatorship and needs to be stopped because it is the root cause of terrorism around the world. Supporting India and stopping Pakistan is the way to go and will help Kerry in generating millions of dollars in campaign contributions from Indian-Americans like me who are the most affluent ethnic group in the country.

:)

[fujiyama]

12. Democrats

DO realize that. Most of the presidents that have heavilly supported Pakistan were republicans. India has usually had better relations with democratic presidents (Kennedy and Clinton for example).

After all, it is Bush that has removed all sanctions against Pakistan. It is Bush that has designated Pakistan as a major non NATO ally. It is Bush that has given Pakistan billions of dollars in military aid.

It's about damn time people in this country woke the hell up realizing that republicans are WORSE when it comes to fighting terror -- that the support for these regimes (Pakistan and Saudi Arabia) has destabiled the world greatly...and has ultimately FURTHERED the goals of Al Qaeda and other Islamic terrorist groups.

[Alerter_]

14. India is an ally to America, Pakistan is not

Whatever screwed up relationship the Bushes have with Pakistan over their drug dealing, money laundering, and terrorism, India is an ally of the US and we should make stronger ties with them. Our cultures our very compatible, and India and the EU are very close. We want India on our side.

[fujiyama]

11. Why don't you stop

acting like Islamic terrorism doesn't exist?

Pisses me off!

[samsingh]

2. puts the lie into the bushie statement that

Iraqi abuse is intolerable. if they were really concerned they would ban the soldiers doing the abusing.

what else are the bushies trying to hide?

[bedtimeforbonzo]

3. uh, this isn't about Iraq

Those were Hindu soldiers in Kashmir

[Veggie Meathead]

6. Let me correct you. India is not a Hindu country in the sense

that israel is a Jewish country or Saudi Arabia, Pakistan or Iran are
Islamic countries.Although the majority of Indian people are Hindus,
India has a large Muslim and a large Christian population.India's Army
has a large number of Muslim , Sikh and Christian soldiers.

To say that Hindu soldiers were killed by the terrorists is a wrong
assumption.To kill Hindus is the motive of the terrorists just as killing Jews is the motive of the terrorists in Israel.But in the case of India, the terrorists usually wind up killing many Sikhs, Christians, Farsis and followers of other religions.

If you have been following the elections in India, nearly 400 Million
voters of all reliogions elected Members of Parliament and the President of India ( a Muslim, by the way) called upon the leader of the majority Party, Sonia Gandhi, an Italian woman by birth, to form a
government.

It would be more appropriate to think of India as the world's largest secular democracy.

[shadu]

7. Palestinian Freedom Fighters are true patriots by any other name

If there is one thing I have learned around here, it is that

[bedtimeforbonzo]

9. I know

but I would give good odds that everyone on the bus was Hindu.

[varun]

10. and Kashmir is not all muslim

parts of Kashmir (like Leh) are Buddhist.

Over the years, many Hindus have fled Kashmir, skewing the demographics of the state.

[Myrina]

4. In Bush's world ...

...its only 'terrorism' if it's against Murkans or other wealthy corporate people who speak English. Unwashed masses and groups who don't contribute to his campaign chest don't count.

[Veggie Meathead]

8. Both President Bush and PM Blair have called the

acts against Indian civilians and Indian soldiers in Kashmir
( which is a State in India) by their correct name: Terrorism, even though no Americans or their corporate buddies are involved.

Sometimes it seems to me the ignorance of right wing ideologues
is equally well matched by our own liberal Democrats when it comes to the people, cultures and politics of countries in Asia or the Middle East.

[fujiyama]

13. Many of those

that are ignorant regarding Asia and the Middle East aren't liberal democrats. They're either Naderites or anarchists that believe that Islamic nations and extremist groups should be immune from all criticism.

These people are not really "liberal" in any sense.