Terrorists of all stripes despise democracy, for democracy means having to respect the interests of human beings who are political opponents. ~ Austin Bay
The least of the terrorists' faults is their small-minded fearfulness. One need look no farther than yesterday's Bombay train atrocities, where the death toll has reached 200, to see proof of that fact. The targets were first class seats on commuter trains. The terrorist mission was to take out the high achievers of India's increasingly successful democracy--the professionals who are learning, advancing, making money and bettering their lives, all without benefit of totalitarianism.
The exact perpetrators are still a mystery, but their motives are not. Whoever these terrorists are, they wanted to knock Indians down, put them back in their helpless, submissive place, under the thumb of radical backwardness.
Like all terrorists, the Bombay bombers are vicious, brutal, and cowardly. Those are not inspiring leadership qualities. Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh has vowed to "fight and defeat the evil designs of terrorists." Already today, India's stocks have risen in the wake of yesterday's violence. India's finance minister, Palaniappan Chidambaram, said the terror attacks on Mumbai (Bombay), the country's financial capital, would not drag down India's economy. "The long-term India growth story is intact," declared Chidambaram.
Such straightforward resolve is what terrifies a terrorist.
