One of the Worst Moments in Our Shared History

Have you ever heard of a "not-for-profit" enterprise. Of course you have. That, dear reader, is what this blog represents. The only way its author will be able to sustain it over time is if the Google ads and search options on the upper left side get used by visitors.

Anyone who visits, but does not exercise those options, is lurking, in the lingo, which, to be clear, is fine by me. So, I am not asking anyone to click on my sponsored ads, but I am pointing out that if you do not do so, you are in effect saying "I don't care whether your blog survives as a business or not."

Given the recession we have entered, many valuable things will disappear. I am not so arrogant as to suggest this blog is valuable to anyone but me, but if you wish it to continue, perhaps you'll consider helping me out?

Most of what I do, as a writer, gives me at least a modest compensation. This blog does not. It is a loss-leader, and its fate depends completely on you.


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Now, on to today's post.

Today, we are witnessing by far the scariest event since I started writing here two and a half years ago. The terrorist attack on Mumbai, which when I visited it 27 years ago was still called Bombay, may signal the beginning of World War Three.

I hope not. But consider history. An obscure assassination in the Balkans triggered World War One.

The unsettled aftermath of that awful struggle set off World War Two.

In my lifetime, despite many close calls, we have somehow avoided a third global conflict, when way too many parties have weapons that could easily destroy life on our planet. One of these nuclear powers in Pakistan.

Meanwhile, the most unstable of all places in the world is Pakistan. Taliban insurgents now control two-thirds of that country, and it is teetering on the verge of collapse.

The terrorists who hit Mumbai today arrived by boat.

If it turns out they came from Pakistan, how do you imagine the Indian government will respond?

This, my friends, is how global disasters begin.

I just hope I am wrong. But my sense is that we face dire circumstances in the days ahead. A nuclear bomb exploded anywhere on earth threatens life everywhere on earth.

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