US Congressman Gary Ackerman, New York Democrat, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on South Asia, Thursday launched a blistering attack on the Pakistani military, accusing it of continuing to tolerate and pander to the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, the terrorist outfit that carried out the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
The lawmaker, also argued that it would be a serious mistake to believe that the LeT is really only India's problem and said that "the idea that this group can be appeased on the subject of Kashmir is dangerous nonsense," and said this terror outfit was a dire threat to the US too and had been attacking US forces in Afghanistan from day one and was a significant presences in that country.
Ackerman, who had convened a hearing of his subcommittee and titled the discussion, 'Bad Company: Lashkar-e-Tayiba and the Growing Ambition of Islamist Militancy in Pakistan,' in his opening salvo warned that "while US attention has focused primarily on al-Qaeda, and the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban, the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and other violent, Islamist extremist groups in Pakistan have been growing in both capability and ambition."
"As was demonstrated in the horrific Mumbai attack of November 2008, the al-Qaeda model of perpetrating highly visible, mass casualty attacks appears to have migrated, with enormous potential consequences for the United States," he said.
Ackerman, recalled how "with a team of 10 well-armed terrorists, a carefully coordinated plan of attack, and a team of controllers back in Pakistan in constant communication with the terrorist attack team, the LeT in three days killed 173 innocent people, wounded 308 others, and grabbed hold of the entire world's attention."
He told his Congressional colleagues that "communications intercepts that have been made public by the Government of India include an attack controller boasting about the carnage in Mumbai as 'This is just the trailer. The main movie is yet to come.'"
Ackerman, former co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, and one of the most senior members of the Foreign Affairs Committee and one of the most knowledgeable lawmakers on South Asia, having traveled to the region several times, asserted that "we need to take this threat very, very seriously. The LeT is a deadly serious group of fanatics. They are well financed, ambitious, and most disturbingly, both tolerated by, and connected to, the Pakistani military."
"The same Pakistani military to which we are selling advanced arms, the same Pakistani military that objected so bitterly to legislation this Congress passed to provide a massive $7.5 billion plus-up in American assistance to their country, Pakistan because of our accompanying language suggested that Pakistan's military should be answerable to a democratically elected government."
Ackerman explained that the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, which means 'the army of the righteous' or 'the army of the pure' was "set up with help from the Pakistani military as a proxy weapon for use in Jammu and Kashmir, parts of India that Pakistan has contested since partition in 1947."
He said that "after 9/11, Pakistan officially banned LeT, but the reality is that like other Islamist terrorist groups, LeT maintains a clear public presence -- and a vast recruiting network -- by providing extremely useful charitable and social services to millions of impoverished people of Pakistan. Public estimates suggest LeT operates some 2,000 offices in towns and villages throughout Pakistan, as well as maintaining ties with the Pakistani military."
Ackerman alleged that "there is, in fact, no reason to doubt that Pakistan's military is likely paying compensation to the families of the terrorists killed in the Mumbai attacks," and he added, in noting the irony of the deception and chicanery, "These are our allies in the war on terror."
He acknowledged that "operational funding for the LeT comes from charitable fund-raising amongst the general population in Pakistan, but also depends heavily on contributions by Pakistani businessmen living abroad and other wealthy individuals from the Persian Gulf."
And, Ackerman pointed out, "Let us note too, these states are also our allies in the war on terror."
"But it would be unfair and wrong to suggest that the LeT problem is strictly confined to Pakistan and the Middle East," he said. "In fact, one of the key facilitators of the Mumbai attack was an American of Pakistani extraction. Unfortunately, the LeT enjoys a substantial global network stretching from the Philippines to the United Kingdom."
Ackerman scoffed at the "temptation to think that the LeT is really India's problem; that the LeT is really just interested in the so-called 'liberation' of Jammu and Kashmir."
He argued "while it's true that the primary area of operations for the LeT has historically been the Kashmir valley and the Jammu region, the LeT has also undertaken repeated and numerous mass casualty attacks throughout India, and, in particular, directed at the Indian government. But the idea that this group can be appeased on the subject of Kashmir is dangerous nonsense."
Ackerman asserted that the LeT's "true goal is not Kashmir, it is India. And the LeT is not shy about announcing that its intention is to establish an Islamic state in all of South Asia. Neither does it hide or try to play down its declaration of war against all Hindus and Jews, who they insist are 'enemies of Islam.'"
He said how in the wake of the Mumbai attacks, "investigators uncovered in computer records and e-mail accounts a list of 320 locations worldwide deemed by the LeT as possible targets for attacks. Only 20 of the targets were locations within India."
Ackerman said, "The LeT has been attacking US forces in Afghanistan almost from day one and their forces are present throughout Afghanistan. The LeT has been slaughtering Indians for decades. The LeT has put the world on notice that they intend to escalate the carnage and spread it worldwide."
"This group of savages needs to be crushed," he declared. "Not in a month, not in a year. Not when the situation stabilizes in Afghanistan and not when things are under control in Pakistan."
Ackerman said it is imperative that this group needs to be crushed "now. Today and everyday going forward," and he bemoaned that "we're not doing it, and we're not effectively leading a global effort to do it."
"And we're going to regret this mistake. We're going to regret it bitterly," he warned.
