The Limits Of Unity

Moreover, even the strongest coalition against terrorism can't put all the world right. Tragedy is part of the human condition; the rational practice of international politics is always at the mercy of the irrational, of people (or nations) with a passionate sense of the rightness of their cause and the perfidy of their enemies. Bush was reminded of that twice last week. Rehavam Ze'evi, an Israeli Cabinet minister, was assassinated by Palestinian gunmen, an act to which Prime Minister Ariel Sharon reacted as if it were the attacks on Washington and New York City. U.S. officials frankly admit that their power to restrain Israeli fury is less than it was during the Gulf War, 10 years ago.

Two days before Ze'evi's death, India, in retaliation for a suicide bombing that killed 42 people in Srinagar, launched a bombardment across the Line of Control into Pakistani-held Kashmir. The attack took place on the very day that Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived in Islamabad to pledge American support to the government of Pakistan. Later in the week he pledged an identical degree of support to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government in New Delhi. Powell would dearly love to persuade India and Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir question peacefully. But intermediaries have been trying to do that for more than 50 years; all have failed. "We're definitely not in any position to get people to snap to attention and do our bidding on this one," says a State Department official.

Above all else, a coalition led by politicians, soldiers and diplomats cannot be the sole way to drain the pools of zealotry, poverty and alienation in which terrorism flourishes. Much more is needed--economic assistance, cultural and religious dialogue, hope.

You doubt that? Then listen to Muzammal Shah, a member of the Kashmiri radical group Lashkar-e-Tayyaba in Islamabad. "Thousands of Kashmiris have been martyred," he says. "We cannot let the blood of those people go to waste." To touch those who define life as a blood feud, diplomacy, however skillful, is a trembling wand.