Analysis: Politics of terrorism mature
A coalition of Jewish and Indian-American special-interest groups has started lobbying Congress for recognition that U.S. foreign policy must treat terrorism consistently around the world. Underlying the seemingly unlikely combination of these disparate ethnic groups into a lobbying group is a maturing of the war on terrorism into a long-term political issue as well as the core ideologies of each group. The U.S.-India Political Action Committee, a political action group representing foreign-born and native Indian-American interests, along with two prominent pro-Israel American Jewish interest groups — the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and American Jewish Committee — have formed a coalition advocating the spread of democracy and opposition to terrorism worldwide. Although such coalitions are not a new phenomenon, at the heart of their agenda is another goal: to gain greater American support against Palestinian-sponsored terrorism in Israel and Kashmir insurgency-related terror in India. “Post Sept. 11, I think Indian-Americans and Jewish-Americans got a firsthand taste of what terrorism means and how it has impacted India and Israel,” Sanjay Puri, executive director of USINPAC, told United Press International. Full Story