Hal Habrook, in the movie Wall Street, tells Charlie Sheen, just before he gets arrested, "when a man looks into the abyss, all that looks back at him is his character".

As I write this, India & Pakistan are staring at each other & the abyss looms behind what they see. Will they see an enemy who stirs up so much hate, that they will lunge at each other, only to plunge into it? One wrong move & its all over. Even as they are falling into the abyss, the are going to be screaming "its the other guy's fault!"

I remember Feroze Khan saying that when it comes to India, Pakistanis have a Massada Complex. I guess he's right. The sad part is that Indians have that same Massada Complex. When India & Pakistan stare eyeball to eyeball, neither side will blink. To them, they would "rather die than blink". That's the insanity that will ultimately cause a nuclear armegeddon on the subcontinent. Any idiot who thinks there will be only a "limited war", is just that--an idiot.

If somehow this crisis subsides (Inshallah, as my friends from the other side put it); its just a matter of time before another crisis comes up. Our views about Partition may be irreconcilable; but I thought, as the "Partition Generation" is getting old & dying out, things just may improve between the two countries. However, as long as there is Kashmir, there will never be true peace. The dominant views about Kashmir in the two countries are so diametrically opposite, that neither side will give an inch--3rd party or no third party. I think nuclear war in the subcontinent is inevitable--sooner or later. Only a miracle will save our countries.

The Indians I meet in real life & on cyberspace are basically saying "enough is enough", after the attack on the Parliament. It doesnt matter what Pakistanis say, it doesnt matter what the whole frikking world says. This crap has to end one way or the other. This has now transcended Kashmir. Some say it angrily, some say it with resigned fatalism, cloaked with, "we should stop this". But nobody wants to stop it. I dont get a chance to socialise with Pakistanis, so I cant speak for them. But I wont be surprised if they are saying the same thing (about India).

I think its pointless to debate "who's at FAULT"--there will never be any agreement, just blame, justifications, shouting matches & insults. The end result will be the same--an angry stalemate.

Maybe we werent meant to survive. Maybe God is saying these people are only getting what they deserve. Like that Biblical Flood, He's going to wash our sins away with one huge nuclear holacaust. This war will have more dead & dying than all the wars in the 20th Century combined.

Some of us, like Noah's family, will be saved from this Armageddon, safely ensconsed in the West. We will grieve for our birthlands & grieve for our loved ones & hopefully grieve at our failings. The only thing our nations are richly endowed with is hatred. I am equally responsible for this nonsense as the rest of you.