Obvious Statement of the Day - "Terrorist Groups Help Each Other"

Defense Secretary Gates Says Terrorist Groups Help Each Other Thanks for the hot tip Captain Obvious.

Next up, a declaration that water is wet.

Fox News:

A syndicate of terror groups is working to sow violence and destruction across South Asia, and India and Pakistan need to work together to combat the mutual threat, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday.

Gates, who spoke during a visit to India, said no nation was immune from terror.

He linked Taliban militants operating along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border with Lashkar-e-Taiba extremists accused of orchestrating the 2008 terror attack on the Indian city of Mumbai, saying both groups worked under the umbrella of Al Qaeda.

"It's dangerous to single out any one of these groups and say, 'If we can beat that group, that will solve the problem,' because they are in effect a syndicate of terrorist operators intended to destabilize this entire region," Gates said.

When one group succeeds in carrying out an attack, all of them gain in capability and reputation, he said. "A victory for one is a victory for all."

Once again, pretty obvious statements given what is known regrading cooperation between not only various terrorist groups under the Al Qaeda umbrella but beyond, for example Hamas and Iran and Hezbollah assisting each other in terrorist attacks against Israel. Indeed both Shiite and Sunni terrorist groups have worked together in Iraq to kill Americans in between bouts of killing each other.

Gates then in his address in India stated that

India is spending billions annually on U.S.-made military hardware, although Gates said current agreements prevent India from being able to buy some U.S. weaponry or technology.

Given that India is an ally in this War on Terror, War on Radical Islamic Extremism, or War on Foreign National Caused Disasters, whatever you choose to call this conflict, it is high time those agreements were modified to enable the US and India to more closely cooperate and come together as allies in this conflict.