In the aftermath India’s “911”, the world’s largest democracy could learn a few things from the world’s oldest.

Originally published by Mike gamecock DeVine as Legal Editor for The Minority Report

A combination of roundups of visa overstays from Muslim countries in the weeks immediately following 911; elimination of nation-state sponsored safe havens; foreign and domestic surveillance; and war against Taliban, Wahhabist, Baathist, Iranian Shia, and other Islamist enemies of civilization over seas, including the killing of tens of thousands and aggressive interrogation of such enemies by the armed forces led by their President George W. Bush as Commander-in-Chief has kept the American homeland safe for seven anniversaries of The 911.

Like President Bush in the immediate aftermath of the attacks on New York and Washington, India’s leader has confronted Pakistan with ultimatums. General Pervez Musharref, a former ally of Afghanistan’s al Qaeda harboring government, accepted a U.S. offer he couldn’t refuse.

Current President Asif Ali Zardari, widower of Benazir Bhutto (herself killed by terrorists) has been equivocal while also promised India its full cooperation to take on the Lashkar-e-Taib a terrorists in his country.

But India must do more within its own borders to deter small bands of well-armed terrorists that don’t want to meet 73 virgins just yet. The woeful state of the equipment employed by India’s security forces is one problem, but I sense another larger problem.

At critical times during the attacks targeting westerners, Jews and the economic symbols of a successful free state that killed more than 200 innocents, security forces refused to kill enemies in their sights.

Even more significant, the terrorists had no reason to fear being interrupted in their rampage by armed citizens.

Ever wonder why our enemies haven’t sent non-suicidal terrorists to our hotels, malls and community centers?

They know that Americans are armed with a Bill of Rights to take them out on sight (so long as it isn’t a “gun-free” school zone controlled by the left ala Columbine or Virginia Tech) and that even unarmed Americans ala Flight 93 (National Memorial pictured above) will take planes down in Pennsylvania fields to protect their Nation.

They must have the will to use force. The will shown on Flight 93 and shown by President Bush and our armed forces.

Some in India are crying out for the right to bear arms to protect themselves, their families and their nation.

For India to equal America’s perfect record of peace at home they will also have to endure the ire of the leftist world press that long ago surrendered to barbarism “tolerance”.

It seems prudence has even concentrated the mind of our own former War Critic-in-Chief, President-Elect Barack Obama, on the perfect record of his soon to be predecessor, as judged by his national security team.

The Drive-By media has even shifted post-Election Day (and post-Mumbai) to laud Obama for his own new found toughness given the reality of terrorist enemies, even if they suspended their intelligence for seven years of Bushlied; still refuse to acknowledge Bush’s perfect record post-911; and still use the gratuitous, bash-Bush throwaway line template in every story on the war. A recent dead-tree example:

But the lesson of Mumbai cannot be understated. Yes, the Obama administration must break new diplomatic ground and repair the international damage of the Bush years. America must return to its image as a nation that does not use its military might as a global bully that pursues pre-emptive wars.

That said, Obama’s national-security team has to remember that Americans, both civilian and in service, face fundamentalist threats on a daily basis.

Yes, we have faced the threat on a daily basis, yet, despite that fact, they have not succeeded since one day in 2001, no thanks to Obama’s Democratic Party and the Drive-By media.
India will need a leader like President Bush that cares more about saving the lives of his countrymen than the approval of chattering classes. The willingness of India to blow suspected Islamist Pirate mother ships out of the water absent proof beyond a reasonable doubt indicates they just may have what it takes.

I sure hope our President-Elect has what it takes, beyond mere campaign threats to invade allies seeking an Osama bin laden reduced to video releases of material nearly three years old.

Take notes Mumbai and the “office” of the President-Elect, on a plan me know that works for at least seven years.

Mike DeVine’s Charlotte Observer, Examiner.com and Minority Report columns

“One man with courage makes a majority.” – Andrew Jackson