This blog is designed to give readers a glimpse of our editorial-page operation and how we make our decisions. We’ll let you know who we’re meeting with, what they’re telling us, what events and issues we’re looking at. We’ll also pass on information and observations that may not make our print editions. In addition to the editorial board members who post on this blog, the board includes Publisher David Zeeck, Executive Editor Karen Peterson and Managing Editor Dale Phelps.
Editorial board bloggers
Editorial page editor Patrick O’Callahan oversees the online and printed opinion sections of The News Tribune. He came to The News Tribune in 1987 and has worked at Washington newspapers since 1979. E-mail him at patrick.ocallahan@thenewstribune.com
Editorial writer Cheryl Tucker, in addition to writing commentary, manages the daily production of the editorial and op-ed pages and edits letters to the editor. She began her journalism career in 1974 at a Virginia newspaper and came to The News Tribune in 1978. E-mail her at cheryl.tucker@thenewstribune.com.
Editorial writer Kim Bradford manages the online opinion section of The News Tribune and writes commentary. She joined The News Tribune in 2005 after working 11 years at newspapers in Washington and Maryland. E-mail her at kim.bradford@thenewstribune.com.
Guest bloggers
Editor emeritus David Seago retired from The News Tribune in 2008 after 41 years at The News Tribune. E-mail him at sds99@harbornet.com.
Richard Davis’ column on state politics frequently runs in the print edition of The News Tribune. He was president of the Washington Research Council, a statewide think tank, from 1986 through 2006. Currently, as a principal with The Simeon Partnership, Inc. he coordinates the activities of the Washington Alliance for a Competitive Economy, a business coalition founded by the Research Council, the Association of Washington Business and the Washington Roundtable.
Karen Irwin of University Place, a mother of four, has been a frequent contributor to The News Tribune's print editions. She has also written for Seattle's Child, Puget Sound Parent, the Tacoma Weekly, the Fayetteville Observer Times and the political blog Right Meets Left. She graduated from California Lutheran University with a degree in English literature and is currently working toward a history degree.
Michael Allen, professor of history at the University of Washington Tacoma, was born and raised in Ellensburg. He served with the U.S. Marines in Vietnam from 1969-70. He has written five books, including the prize-winning "Patriot's History of the United States: From Columbus' Great Discovery to the War on Terror," "Rodeo Cowboys in the North American Imagination" and "Western Rivermen, 1763-1861: Ohio and Mississippi Boatmen and the Myth of the Alligator Horse." Allen lives in Tacoma and Ellensburg and has three children.
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This editorial will appear in Sunday's print edition.
News from Mumbai was an unwelcome guest at many a family’s Thanksgiving last week, a disturbing demonstration of terrorism’s continued threat.
A series of coordinated attacks on India’s financial capital had left 143 dead as of this writing. India is no stranger to terrorist bombings, but the scale and organization of last week’s attacks distinguishes them.
The terrorists apparently were prepared for a standoff. On Friday, two days after gunmen struck luxury hotels, a train station and other spots frequented by tourists and foreigners, Indian commandos were still struggling to end the siege.
Concerns that the assault could prompt a showdown between India and arch-enemy Pakistan were temporarily eased Friday by Indian leaders' careful public statements and Pakistan officials’ pledges of cooperation in the investigation.
But tensions remained high and could grow as the probe into the attacks continues. Late Friday, American intelligence and counterterrorism officials were zeroing in on a Kashmiri militant group with past ties to Pakistan’s spy service, although the sources said there was no evidence the Pakistani government was involved in the attacks.
Pakistan’s new president, Asif Ali Zardari, has declared that Kashmiri militants are terrorists, but he has yet to prove he has control of intelligence agencies that have propped up Taliban extremists in the past.
The stakes are high for the United States and specifically the incoming Obama administration. It needs for India and Pakistan to be focused on fighting terrorism, not each other.
Even if outside groups are found to have had a hand in Wednesday’s assault, Indians will have to come to terms with the Islamic extremists in their midst. Clues point to homegrown terrorists who knew their targets well – in some cases, better than Indian security forces.
Such is increasingly the face of global terror. It is not enough to hobble al-Qaida when dozens of like-minded groups stand at the ready to do battle on their own turf.
President-elect Barack Obama seems to understand that the United States cannot win the war on terror without on-the-ground partners. But so do the terrorists.
Obama’s agenda abroad to build new alliances will likely end up being one of the biggest tests of his presidency.
For a country that’s been absorbed by its own economic woes as of late, the attacks in Mumbai are a graphic reminder that national security cannot be ignored.
