Fareed Zakaria, an India Muslim, points out that"if one sets aside the war in Iraq, terrorism has in fact gone way down over the past five years. Therefore, he asserts,"we have nothing to fear but . . ." and elect Obama?!

Zakaria does not mention Obama but the implication is clear. The reality is that there is a significant rise in Islamist terrorist attacks in his homeland India, during the last TWO years despite his willingness to talk to Ahmadinejad and company.

Why? Could the culprit be the 2004 return to power of the Congress/leftist coalition and the subsequent repeal of the 2002 POTA, the Indian"Patriot Act?" PM Singh assures concerned Indians that there is no connection. But, then, he would have to so argue. Wouldn't he?!

As to the truth of it? As they are gearing up for elections, Indians are debating the issue and so should Americans and while they are so doing they should take into account the what has been happening in India where Investigators flounder as terrorists strike at will:

New Delhi: Nearly 500 people have been killed in nine well-coordinated terrorist attacks across India since the Diwali-eve bombings here in 2005, but no case has been resolved and not one terrorist arrested.

Although the authorities admit that the terrorists are getting increasingly sophisticated and appear linked to one another, investigations invariably reach dead ends after the initial enthusiasm to find the guilty.

Remember, Barack Obama wants to repeal the"Patriot Act" and the Democrats want to repeal the Act! Actually, Clinton and Obama have been arguing who is more committed to the repeal.

-- May 13, 2008: At least 60 people killed and 150 wounded in what police said was a terror attack in the popular tourist city of Jaipur in the western desert state of Rajasthan.

-- November 23, 2007: At least 13 people were killed from serial blasts outside courts in three north Indian cities and 40 people wounded following a threatening email sent to television channels just minutes before the blasts.

-- August 25, 2007: At least 43 people killed and more than 70 others injured as two bombs rock a crowded outdoor auditorium and a popular eatery in the southern city of Hyderabad.

-- May 18, 2007: At least 10 killed and more than a dozen injured in blast at 17th century Mecca mosque in Hyderabad. Five more killed when police fire at Muslim protesters.

-- February 19, 2007: Sixty-eight people killed and dozens more injured after four explosions on board the Lahore-bound Samjhauta Express.

-- September 8, 2006: Thirty-eight people killed and more than 100 injured in three nearly simultaneous blasts, including one in a mosque, in the town of Malegaon in Maharashtra state.

-- July 11, 2006: Seven bomb blasts in a period of 11 minutes on Mumbai's suburban trains. A total of 186 people were killed and more than 800 injured.

-- April 14, 2006: Fourteen people, including a woman and a girl, injured in two explosions at New Delhi's Jama Masjid, India's largest mosque, after Friday evening prayers.

-- March 7, 2006: Twenty-eight killed and 62 injured after three bombs rip through the holy city of Varanasi. The first blast hit a Hindu temple, the second a railway station and the third a train.

-- October 29, 2005: More than 60 people killed and nearly 200 injured when three bombs explode ahead of the major Hindu festival of Diwali in New Delhi.

-- August 25, 2004: Six people die in two car bomb blasts in Mumbai.

-- March 13, 2003: Eleven people killed in a bomb attack aboard a commuter train in Mumbai.

-- September 24, 2002: At least 31 people killed in a militant attack on a Hindu temple in western Gujarat state.

-- December 13, 2001: Fourteen people die, including five gunmen, in an attack on India's parliament.

"If we withdraw from Iraq, the radical element is all the neighboring Arab countries will be greatly encouraged. We will be unable to maintain ourselves in Afghanistan, to retain our present position in Pakistan. . . . Rapid withdrawal could radicalise the vast Islamic community in India," Henry Kissinger perceptively warns.