Given the American compulsions, what can India gain by engaging in a war? If it is a "war to the finish",it may very well literally end that way for the two countries. If it is a "limited war", then itseffectiveness will be limited too. But what, perhaps, Indians may not aware of is that if the Indian armycrosses the line of control (LOC) in Jammu and Kashmir, it will have done Gen. Musharraf a favor and grantedhim his wish that he was unable to achieve during his Kargil and Agra misadventures. India would haveunilaterally destroyed the sanctity of the LOC as the line of regional stability in Kashmir. This action willsurely trigger big power intervention (through the United Nations) in Kashmir, and will have greaterramifications for India than currently foreseen by Indian security planners.