Gunmen kill 101, take hostages in Mumbai attacks

Thursday 27th November, 07:32 PM JST

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donkusai at 08:23 PM JST - 27th November

Sigh... like watching little children fight. One of the gunmen has spoken to the media. It is a group of INDIAN Muslims protesting over other Indian Muslims who have been jailed. Why ask for U.S. and U.K. citizens? Perhaps because they will bring the greatest embarrassment and pressure on the Indian government, hence (or so they think) bring them closer to achieving their goals. They didn't even ask all the foreigners. One interviewed on TV said they asked for American and British citizens, then when they got enough for a decent number of hostages, didn't ask everyone else (to the great relief of the guy who was being interviewed).

It seems from what has been said that U.S. and U.K. citizens are simply the most global media-friendly of hostages. Most of those already dead died in the indiscriminate shooting at the start, or from the bombings. I think you'll find drone attacks in Pakistan or the war in Iraq take a back seat on this one, and that domestic issues are to the fore.
sailwind at 09:32 PM JST - 27th November

I guess that means that some people here will be moving on...

Agreed,

Sad isn't it.
onewrldoneppl at 11:12 PM JST - 27th November

anyone, what is the indian equivalent of the CIA?
Betzee at 12:14 AM JST - 28th November

They wanted Americans and Brits? Right. The current death tolls sits at 101 with 314 injured. A grand total of 6 foreigners were killed. A Brit, an Aussie, a Japanese man, and 3 unconfirmed. That doesn't sound like a good hit rate to me.

This is the problem with extrapolating intent from outcome. You're assuming things went exactly according to plan. This is a dicey assumption (though one frequently employed to dismiss others' views).

Donkusai is right. Kidnapping Brits and Americans will give the incident a higher international profile than, say, grabbing Chinese or Koreans. From the perpetrators' point of view, it will also probably dampen investment interest in India. And of course tourism revenues will fall off as well. All of this will put pressure on the Indian government which the group responsible hopes will prove favorable to their cause. All of this would be part of their strategic calculations.
romulus3 at 12:32 AM JST - 28th November

This is certainly over Kashmir and pro U.S relations. To drag Iraq into the argument just helps to justify terrorism on a primitive level. This is not about Iraq. Do you believe that pro Pakistani terrorists really give a Flying F about Iraq? They may fabricate that in order to secure favor from wealthy sponsors but clearly this is a local job based on local issues. Regardless of the reasons, I hope the killers find hell in death even though hell is yet another human fabrication.
nandakandamanda at 12:54 AM JST - 28th November

Blind faith is a terrible, wicked, satanic thing.
nandakandamanda at 01:08 AM JST - 28th November

And if no Mullah comes out and condemns this attack, I am sorry, but I will have to conclude that they secretly support it. Or are they simply afraid of their own flock?

Is Islam under attack? No, I don't think so. It looks from here like the armed wing of Islam is on the attack, yet again. Aggressive, militant, and out of touch with what really matters to the human heart.
YuriOtani at 01:10 AM JST - 28th November

I think the Pakistan government is behind these attacks and the attacks in Afghanistan. The vast majority of people killed are India. They may have been looking for Americans and British but did not find many. There is going to be a lot of pressure on the India government to do something. This attack will not help the Muslim people in India, Pakistan or Kashmir region, if anything it will lead to an India crackdown on them. All this talk of "strategic calculations" and the "right" of these thugs is a load of crud.
Betzee at 01:23 AM JST - 28th November

I think the Pakistan government is behind these attacks and the attacks in Afghanistan.

That's a conclusion for which you're going to have to provide some evidence. If the group is found to have benefactors or trained in Pakistan, that's a worrisome concern given the response it might precipitate.

The group certainly planned this attack and therefore it must be based on some set of strategic calculations. To state that is by no means an endorsement. (Do I even have to write that??? Political correctness on the part of the Right is all to evident on this thread.)
romulus3 at 01:52 AM JST - 28th November

India is full of local Muslim extremists. No need to blame Pakistan. Almost all of the dead in this attack are Indian muslims, hindus, and sikhs. The extremists in India have their own Modus Operandi. The media and Governments who need to say "I told you so" are making a 9.11 out of a terrible event. But this is no 9.11 and just another example of the difficulties facing the Indian government. If they were not so corrupt for a start, this may not have happened. Same goes for 9.11.
YuriOtani at 03:07 AM JST - 28th November

Betzee, I do not have to "prove" anything and the government of India does not have to "prove" anything. One hundred and one people are dead and hundreds more are wounded. Millions of dollars of damage has been been done and amount of suffering is beyond words. romulas3 you have managed to flip this 180 degrees. The government of India is going to "protect" their people. Do you expect them to do nothing? From the story the attackers came from outside of India. Something is going to happen and do not expect the India government to have to play by the "Queensberry rules".
Helter_Skelter at 06:06 AM JST - 28th November

India has been wracked by bomb attacks the past three years, which police blame on Muslim militants intent on destabilizing this largely Hindu country. Nearly 700 people have died.

Of course, India will do what it always does when these attacks by Muslims occur. They'll put out their generic statement denouncing terrorism and say both sides must show restraint. And then they'll do nothing. So it's hardly surprising that these attacks have continued on like this for decades. How pathetic for a country to not even protect its own citizens. Until India decides get serious about Islamic terrorism, I'd avoid the place.

Given that Pakistan has both nuclear weapons and a political spectrum which includes Islamic fundamentalists, we want to decrease the chances of that group coming to power....This is a very dangerous part of the world.

Betzee - agreed. Pakistan should have never been allowed to obtain nuclear weapons. I've said many times that Islamic countries must never be allowed to go nuclear. This is exactly why Iran's nuclear program needs to be leveled.
OssanAmerica at 06:54 AM JST - 28th November

Clearly, the so-called war on terror has done nothing but beget more >terror, as predicted.

So according to you, after 911 we should have done nothing? Has it occured to you that doing nothing would have invited further terrorist attacks within the U.S.?
apecNetworks at 07:52 AM JST - 28th November

Is it just me, or does this operation sound like a "professional suicide unit"? Possible mothership off the coast, rubber lifeboats on shore, limited munitions planted at target sites - may have some inside help, but this operation required logistics, planning and transportation availability. Also, these types of operations are done due to time constraints, or the bulk of the equipment would have been already stored at the target sites. The Indian Govt. should bring in their elite squads and an outside investigation like Interpol. Tooooooo many questions unanswered.
Smythe at 05:59 AM JST - 29th November

Must agree with you apecNetworks, for when the top Indian commandos hit the Jewish section, with a lot dead, then noted the last standing was in early 20s, extremely well train & in quite a vicious mood, or something like that. Possibly on some drug so as to keep him awake & sharp.

So YES India had best start to study what allowed this group to hit & are there more like them that could hit again, possibly in another city or area though often in another way.