Body Count

Yoshie Furuhashi furuhashi.1 at osu.edu
Mon Dec 9 14:10:45 PST 2002


At 7:37 PM +0530 12/9/02, Ulhas Joglekar wrote:
> > Were I a guardian of the American Empire, I wouldn't allow India and
>> Pakistan to go to war and make a (possibly radioactive) mess that the
>> Empire must clean up when I'd rather stay focused on Iraq and
>> Venezuela,
>
>Chances of India and Pakistan going to war are not all that high. Both sides
>have withdrawn their armies to peacetime locations. Every conflict between
>nuclear weapon states doesn't inevitably to nuclear exchange. Kargil
>conflict between India/Pakistan and Ussuri river clashes between fSU and
>China are examples of that

Speaking as a guardian of the American Empire, I wouldn't mind a little border skirmishes as long as they won't get way out of control right at this moment. I would like both India and Pakistan to jockey themselves to curry my favor in their struggle with each other. I'd also like to see them oppress and alienate their respective minorities; I should like to play a defender of minorities in other nations, though I don't care for them too much in my own.

At 7:37 PM +0530 12/9/02, Ulhas Joglekar wrote:
> >but I would be very pleased to see India and Pakistan
> >employing covert actions in each other's territory, debilitating
> >themselves, so I might even help you both in doing so.
>
>This is not in the US interest. The US gains nothing by debilitating two
>countries. The notion that the US is trying to debilitate the developing
>nations always and everywhere is not convincing.

Not always and everywhere, but sometimes, somewhere -- Iran and Iraq, constituent republics/nationalities of Yugoslavia, Israel and Palestine, etc. Were I a guardian of the post-Cold War Empire, I'd want to prevent an emergence of any ambitious regional power that does not depend on my favor at all, so I'd make sure that losses on the part of Pakistan wouldn't become gains of India (or any other power's, for that matter), and vice versa. Besides, I'd like to present the Empire as the indispensable mediator; with no conflicts anywhere in the world, I wouldn't be able to do so. -- Yoshie

* Calendar of Events in Columbus: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html> * Anti-War Activist Resources: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html> * Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/>



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