Mumbai Attacks: Result of American Destabilization or Indian Discrimination and Violence?

The logic behind it is that if Pakistan is free of the tensions on its eastern border it shares with India, then Islamabad could concentrate more on security issues that dog its western border which straddles with Afghanistan.

Reports are suggesting Pakistan bears some responsibility for the attacks.

In a stunning development, Pakistan’s ISI chief is traveling to India to show the Indian government evidence Pakistan is not responsible for the Mumbai attacks.

Opposition to the Pakistani government is suggesting that the government “acted in haste and should instead have offered to form a "joint task force with equal responsibility"” The opposition is also claiming “that India [has] in the past blamed Pakistan for terrorist attacks but subsequent probes [have] shown they were carried out by "internal groups".”

What will the Western World’s response be to the attacks? What actions will pro-Israeli elements demand in the aftermath? And what do these attacks mean when considering the fact that Obama is planning a “surge” which would involve sending 20,000 more troops to Afghanistan?

It’s highly unlikely that these attacks provide ample reason for Obama to leave Guantanamo Bay open, which is what FOX News suggested.

However, this could have a huge impact on the focus of American foreign policy and will definitely have an effect on whether Obama pursues a foreign policy that upholds peace, justice, and freedom and employs diplomacy or whether Obama pursues a foreign policy of war and occupation and further destabilization of the Middle East and areas of Asia nearby.

Unfortunately, American news organizations would rather focus attention on the deaths of a father and daughter from America rather than the implications this will have on U.S. foreign policy. They would rather have Americans respond emotionally to the event instead of intellectually.

And so, after nearly one month of hope and optimism in America (warranted or unwarranted), fear has re-entered America's public sphere and Muslims are once again on Americans' minds as "the other" to watch out for.

Those Americans conscious of how wrong it is for Americans as a people to constantly live in fear of a group of people should challenge this way of thinking with fortitude and moral courage. And when challenging this way of thinking, the idea of a "war on terror" should be challenged as well.

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