Musharraf in Wonderland

Reading reports about war preparations in Kashmir, I keep asking myself, how can India and Pakistan be so close to nuclear war? It's true the two nations have been fighting over the disputed territory since they came into existence as nation states, but the seeming willingness to hit each other with atomic warheads has begun to take on a through-the-looking glass quality.

What scenario do the two militaries imagine in the event of a first strike by either nation? Does India seriously think Pakistan's nuclear program is that undeveloped? Do the Pakistanis think the Indians won't have the resolve to retaliate? Surely both sides must have seen U.S. intelligence estimates of 12,000,000 deaths and 7,000,000 injuries in the event of a nuclear exchange. While India has ruled out a nuclear first-strike in response to a conventional attack, Pakistan has not.

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