Wow

[Orange_Juice]

A hoax telephone call almost sparked another war between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan at the height of last month's terror attacks on Mumbai, officials and Western diplomats on both sides of the border said on Sunday.

Asif Ali Zardari, the Pakistani President, took a telephone call from a man pretending to be Pranab Mukherjee, India's Foreign Minister, on Friday, November 28, apparently without following the usual verification procedures, they said.

The hoax caller threatened to take military action against Pakistan in response to the then ongoing Mumbai attacks, which India has since blamed on the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), they said.

Mr Zardari responded by placing Pakistan's air force on high alert and telephoning Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, to ask her to intervene.

But when Dr Rice called Mr Mukherjee, he said that he had not spoken to Mr Zardari and that his last conversation with Shah Mahmood Qureishi, the Pakistani Foreign Minister, had been quite civil.

"It's unbelievable, but true," said a Western diplomat familiar with the frantic diplomatic exchanges that eventually resolved the

Fantastic!

Hoax phone call 'almost took Pakistan to war' - Times Online

 

[tigerbob]

Fantastic!

Hoax phone call 'almost took Pakistan to war' - Times Online

That's un-fuckin-believably scary if it's true!

 

[Xenophon]

Isn't that special.

A near nuclear exchange over a prank phone call.

 

[Orange_Juice]

Isn't that special.

A near nuclear exchange over a prank phone call.

Isn't this why countries have the Red Phones?

 

[DavidS]

Isn't that special.

A near nuclear exchange over a prank phone call.

The saber rattling is at historic levels. So many countries are just ITCHING to go to war against each other. It reminds me so much of Europe during 1913. We are sitting on a tinder box in drought conditions with gasoline poured everywhere. One wrong spark or match and we've got world war 3 on our hands. The future of the world is TRULY dependent upon Barack Obama.

 

[tigerbob]

The saber rattling is at historic levels. So many countries are just ITCHING to go to war against each other. It reminds me so much of Europe during 1913. We are sitting on a tinder box in drought conditions with gasoline poured everywhere. One wrong spark or match and we've got world war 3 on our hands. The future of the world is TRULY dependent upon Barack Obama.

David - the combination of your love for Obama and that new avatar is truly worrying.

 

[Orange_Juice]

The saber rattling is at historic levels. So many countries are just ITCHING to go to war against each other. It reminds me so much of Europe during 1913. We are sitting on a tinder box in drought conditions with gasoline poured everywhere. One wrong spark or match and we've got world war 3 on our hands. The future of the world is TRULY dependent upon Barack Obama.

WW3? If India and Pakisn go at it? Whatever

 

[DavidS]

WW3? If India and Pakisn go at it? Whatever

If India and Pakistan go at it, other Muslim countries will get involved.

 

[Chris]

Crank Yankers has gone too far!

 

[Gunny]

Fantastic!

Hoax phone call 'almost took Pakistan to war' - Times Online

Gotta love technology ....