What Israel can do, India can’t

– By Sunanda K Datta-Ray

While the Army chief boasts about India’s ‘ability’ to carry out a raid similar to Operation Geronimo, Mossad goes ahead and does it quietly.

Union Minister for Home Affairs P Chidambaram might not have dismissed the blunder over one of the names in his list of 50 most-wanted fugitives had he been aware of the falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus — wrong in one, wrong in all — legal principle. That apart, the confusion over Wazhul Kamar Khan is sound reason why India would be most foolish to attempt to copy Operation Geronimo. Given our slack intelligence and slapdash methods, the commandoes would go in and eliminate the wrong man and then there would be another disgraceful attempt to pass the buck, as the Home Minister did with his casual comments in Agartala.

All this plays into Pakistani hands. It can be argued that journalists and TV anchors are natural blabbermouths. Politicians must also boast and brag for a living. But new depths of irresponsibility are plumbed when garrulous defence chiefs — I am thinking of the ill-advised dare by General VK Singh, the Army chief — have to be reminded of Talleyrand’s advice that speech is given to man to conceal his thoughts. Talleyrand, incidentally, was an astute French diplomat who served the Bourbons and Napoleon with equal dexterity.

It’s a lesson Israelis don’t have to be taught. They do while others talk. Though their commando raids all over the world were invoked during the recent demands to swoop into Pakistan to eliminate terrorists like the US eliminated Osama bin Laden, there’s never a whisper in advance. The operations are planned and executed in absolute secrecy by Mossad, Israel’s crack agency for intelligence gathering and covert operations which helped to train India’s Research and Analysis Wing more than 40 years ago.

Israel’s conviction that Governments are morally obliged to protect citizens is not disputed. Though the obligation is best fulfilled through economic security (as Israel also handsomely demonstrates), terror threats can’t be overlooked. As some WikiLeaks revelations by Guantanamo Bay inmates confirm, providing sanctuary and encouragement to terrorists is Pakistan’s way of waging low-level war against India with little risk to itself.

Facing a similar threat, Mr George W Bush invaded Afghanistan, dislodged the Taliban and installed President Hamid Karzai. That was not enough. The real criminals — Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda to whom Taliban had given asylum and a launching pad — also had to be destroyed. It was in this context that Air Marshal P.V. Naik was reported to have first claimed that India has the same surgical strike capability as the US.

Gen Singh went further by appearing to hold the Prime Minister and Cabinet responsible for the defence forces not emulating the US. Stressing India’s competence like his Air Force colleague, the Army chief pointed out that the defence forces “need permission from the top for this”. Operation Geronimo took place “only after directions from US President Barack Obama”.

As for his own view, “We can also think of such attacks to eliminate terrorists from this part of the world.” Not surprisingly, the Pakistanis retorted with a dusty answer, which Indians then complained was provocative!

Citing Israel is no way out of this dangerous war of words. No one knew of one of Israel’s most dramatic operations — the 1960 kidnapping of the former Nazi official, Adolf Eichman, in Argentina — until he was flown to Israel where he was hanged after a civil court found him guilty of various crimes. Other Mossad operations like Operation Thunderbolt involving a 2,500-mile flight by 100 elite commandos to Entebbe airport in Uganda in 1976 to rescue 103 Jews held by Palestinian militants who had hijacked their plane — were equally secretive. All the hijackers, three hostages, 45 Ugandan soldiers and the rescue team’s commander, Lt Col Yonatan Netanyahu, the present Prime Minister’s brother, were killed in the 90-minute nocturnal operation.

One such, Operation Bulmus 6, to wipe out an Egyptian early warning radar and Electronic Interception and Analysis of Electronic Intelligence station, as well as about 80 Egyptian soldiers, on Green Island in the Gulf of Suez, wasn’t even known until 25 years had passed. Experts believe Israeli artillery or aircraft could have done the job more easily with less risk to Israeli life, but a commando raid sent a clear warning regarding Israeli capability and had a negative effect on Egyptian military morale.

As Kargil proved, Indian soldiers don’t lack the courage and fortitude for dangerous missions. But Israeli operations also depend on superb intelligence and disciplined and courageous politicians who don’t shirk taking the blame. Even if we had comparable information networks and competent political leaders, we would have to think of reprisals unless India also first re-enacts Operation Babylon, Israel’s surprise 1981 air strike to destroy Iraq’s nuclear reactor. While two can play at that game, Operation Eagle Claw, the bungled American attempt to rescue 53 US Embassy personnel held hostage in Tehran, is a reminder that not all covert operations succeed.

Islamic terrorists are like the dragon’s teeth in Greek mythology. When one bunch is destroyed another crops up. Some argue they will continue to do so until the Kashmir dispute is resolved. It’s more likely that Pakistan will foster terrorists even after that to compensate for the complexes that account for its animus towards India. The animus may be instinctive but the ability to express it owes much to US (later Chinese) efforts over the years to create a sense of parity in the sub-continent. Transplanting the equation to North America, it’s like inciting Mexico to see itself as equal to the US.

Northern Ireland, crippled for decades by the world’s longest running guerrilla campaign, provides a closer parallel. The religious divide was as acrimonious, and the British and Irish Governments were both complicit in the struggle. The Good Friday Agreement of 1998 brought peace because London and Dublin were prepared to make concessions — constitutional, administrative and on the ground — and Mr Bill Clinton proved a wise mediator.

The US can help here too by forcing Pakistan to accept geopolitical reality. It’s in the American interest to do so because India is an attractive market that also creates jobs for Americans. France is also especially cooperative because India’s Rs 50,000-crore defence budget holds out hope for the Rafale and other fighters. Economic muscle remains a more effective long-term protection than military adventures that politicians might sanction but will deny the moment anything goes wrong.