Shloky follows the the Mubai attacks on Twitter, which Pundita describes as Web 2.0 coming into its own. Shlok Vaidya is currently the Energy Security Analyst with the Center for Terrorism Research at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. Here are some of the entries on the page.
Just done with a major outlet interview in DFW, back on a flight, in Austin in an hour. about 3 hours ago from TwitterBerry
Several interviews lined up on this topic over the next couple days. One TV potential tonight. Been helping response to some small degree. about 4 hours ago from TwitterBerry
#mumbai If the cargo ship is true, it was sloppy and from and old era of terrorism. Points to legacy thinkers – governments, major org etc about 4 hours ago from TwitterBerry
#mumbai Just off phone with an ACP in Mumbai. Told him same as I tell you – I think its going to be over soon and not as bad as potential. about 4 hours ago from TwitterBerry
#mumbai The boats ridden into the bay were launched from a cargo ship. MV Alpha is primary suspect. about 4 hours ago from TwitterBerry
#mumbai NSG is finishin up operations. about 4 hours ago from TwitterBerry
Flying until mid-day. about 10 hours ago from TwitterBerry
#mumbai Hostages were a byproduct. Arguably because the escape vector was shutdown. If they were the focus, there would be more and sooner. about 10 hours ago from TwitterBerry
#mumbai I don’t suspect the hostages were part of the plan. No demands, and thus far no catastrophic second order events. about 10 hours ago from TwitterBerry
#mumbai If you want to understand the full scope and context of this attack, read www.naxaliterage.com about 15 hours ago from web
#mumbai Operations are in full swing. Simultaneously across three major points. Tear gas in Narmin, 4′th floor. about 16 hours ago from web
#mumbai Ugh. No one’s trying to shut down #mumbai except for a few overzealous supporters. Keep twittering if you want, don’t if you don’t. about 16 hours ago from web
#mumbai If you want to understand the full scope and context of this attack, read www.naxaliterage.com . about 16 hours ago from web
#mumbai Karkare wasn’t assassinated. Any terrorist claims to that are information operations designed to pump up their achievements. about 16 hours ago from web
#mumbai Taj has been cleared of noncombatants. about 16 hours ago from web
#mumbai Then a crescendo of gunfire, flashbangs, smoke grenades. IF executed successfully, it will be rapid, loud, and very short. about 16 hours ago from web
#mumbai It will be slow and boring for the next short time period. Sporadic gunfire. Ambulances running in and out. about 16 hours ago from web
#mumbai Media blackout. What that means: NSG are clearing rooms. Police are taking out prisoners and hostages. This ends pretty soon. about 16 hours ago from web
#mumbai Timing’s about correct. They’re creeping in. Police will start hauling hostages out. NSG will keep going in. about 16 hours ago from web
#mumbai This isn’t a result of Mumbai being a complex powderkeg. This is an attempt to take advantage of that dynamic. about 16 hours ago from web
The future of original journalism is the bystander with the video enabled cellphone, not Dan Rather. But John Batchelor has been following another revolutionary aspect of the the Mumbai attack, whose characteristics will be evident from the Twitter Stream: the use of what he calls the Murder Raid.
The scale of the attacks is the news. Coordinated, cocky, racist and classist, now making war on the five star hotels and transportation centers (above Chattrapati Shivaji Railway terminus), singling out American and British passport holders for slaughter, in order to strike at India’s confidence of its place in the world of great states. … Moslem-born killers. A bystander emphasizes they looked like “boys.” The twitter service report, and the flickr stream pics, shows that the massive city, tens of millions of people, major communications and transportation systems, is shut down, compromised, paralyzed in the dark. Crowds gathered in the streets in wonder, fear, frustration (right). It is daylight soon and the clean-up and hunt will begin again, and also the on-going hostage events at hotels and hospitals must be resolved.
Could this happen to New York, or Washington, or Los Angeles? We all know the answer, not if but when. And if it happens to Mumbai, it happens to all of us. My cynicism tonight makes me measure that this is not about stopping the IJ, this is about making the next IJ attack more difficult. And also making the comparable AQ attack aimed at Paris or London or New York or Chicago more difficult. Still, a murder raid, pure savagery, and shocking in its way to a world that had thought in the crash of all markets that it was beyond shocks.
“Could this happen to New York, or Washington, or Los Angeles?” Not very successfully if a substantial percentage of the population were armed. The US Constitution was written at a time when the frontier existed and you could find the murder raiders coming at any time of the day or night. Then the forest primeval was at the doorstep. Now, in a strange evolution created by hyper-civilization — the advent of air travel, globalization and political correctness –the forest primeval may once again be right outside your hotel door. Meet your new neighbors, the “teenage gunmen”. It’s too bad the concepts embodied by Second Amendment are now too distasteful for modern men of discriminating taste. The rise of terrorism is a failure of civilization. A splintering of the Shield of Achilles. But in the jungle it is better to give than to recieve.
embedded by Embedded VideoYouTube Direkt
Yes, indeed; too distasteful. Worrying more about the other guy’s rights than your own. Reminds of Robt Frost’s description of a liberal as one who won’t even take his own side in an argument.
Could it happen in Texas or Florida, or other must issue states? Probably not very successfully. The terroroists could get a few people each before being shredded. Could it happen in California, or New York, or some other place the terrorists actualy want to attack? Most definitely.
We are all potential soldiers. And we all may be, at any moment, at the war’s front, because in this war the front can be anywhere.
“No one is going to help us. We’ve got to do it ourselves.”
A bit of healthy paranoia is warranted these days. It CAN happen here.
American readers of BC can choose NOT to be defenseless. Patriots pack heat. And every time they slip that S&W Model 642 in their pants pocket or that Kimber Pro Covert II into a Milt Sparks Summer Special inside-the-waistband holster or that Keltec P-32 in their bra, they think, for a few seconds, that today may be that day.
It will take courage to engage an AK-47 wielding terrorist with a hand gun. It takes courage to fight a small fire with a fire extinguisher. The guy with the AK will probably kill you if you miss. Enough of us must find that courage within ourselves to take the shot, or we will be powerless victims, too.
May St. Gabriel Possenti steady our trembling hands.
“We told people clearly that Mumbai faced a high risk of future terrorist attack,” one police officer said, “and that there was no such thing as perfect intelligence which would predict. But all most businesses were willing to do was institute a cursory system of searching cars at the gates of some hotels, a measure that was utterly ineffectual. It was intended only to give the public the feeling that something was being done to protect them — not to actually do something to protect them.”
Lashkar was planning fidayeen attacks in Mumbai
Things aren’t that much different any where else. Most of “security” is look-see pidgin to comfort the local yokels. One of the reasons most of us put up with governments and their incompetence, corruption and insatiable demand for more of our money is because they are supposed to protect us. The whole social contract depends on sheeple trusting the government instead of doing for themselves.
MUMBAI: Maharashtra Police investigators say they have evidence that operatives of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba carried out the fidayeen-squad attacks in Mumbai — a charge which, if proven, could have far-reaching consequences for India-Pakistan relations.
Police sources said an injured terrorist captured during the fighting at the Taj Mahal hotel was tentatively identified as Ajmal Amir Kamal, a resident of Faridkot, near Multan, in Pakistan’s Punjab province. Highly-placed police sources said two other Pakistani nationals had also be held in the course of intense fighting on Thursday.
All three, the sources said, identified themselves as members of a Lashkar fidayeen squad.
3 Lashkar fidayeen captured
Pundita is critical of the tone in the US response to the attack, both from GWB and Barack Obama. This I think, is because the LeT, the ISI or whoever else turns out to be behind the attack on Mumbai has an unreported hostage in play. That hostage is US operations in Afghanistan and cooperation in the hunt for Osama Bin Laden. As most people now realize, the logistics for the Afghanistan flow through Pakistan. And since the US can’t cross the border openly, they must rely on Pakistani proxies to do a lot of the heavy lifting.
The twin supports of the the unrest in Afghanistan are Pakistan and the Middle East. Pakistan provides the real estate, the madrassas and human institutions for radical Islam to thrive. The Middle East provides the money and the ideology. Afghanistan provided the empty space for them to play around in. We can’t move against our friends the Saudis because of energy. And we can’t move against our friends the Pakistanis because they’ve got their thumb on Afghanistan’s artery. The diplomats are running around offering linkages and grand bargains to try and square the circle. But for my money the circle will stay round.
For a Mumbaiker, these hotels serve as a second home.
“We (the people) are tired of being resilient. Our hands are not tied, we too can hit back.”
The people will demand action against the masterminds of the attacks. And perception in India is that it is the ISI guides and masterminds the attacks. Elections in India are in due in the next six months and pressure will mount on the Indian government to act. Joe Biden was right, Barack Obama will face an international test in the first six months. South Asia looks to be that test.
Mumbai Attack is Obama’s First International Challenge
Maybe our friends the Indians will come join us with a 20,000 man expeditionary force in Afghanistan, with their SPOD at the Iranian port of Chahbahar and their LOC running up that brand new road they built to Delaram.
The Iranians wouldn’t know what was the Indian’s stuff and what was ours.
Well, this is Obama’s chance to demonstrate his tough policy towards Pakistan.
Farkhor Air Base, if opened to US and NATO, would widen the air bridge significantly. Maybe even replace K2.
Just about everything a Western army needs can be procured in India.
India is the regional Great Power. Getting them to do more is our way out.
Free Baluchistan!
Border Roads Organization to Gwadar. Highway to Helmand.
Twitter is a lot like blogging, but instead of posting things on a sort of bulletin board that only gets checked when people come down to the lobby, it’s almost like a real chat room, with one bit and important difference: You have total control over your Twitter experience.
If someone is being a “twit” you unfollow them. If someone is interesting to you, the friends on their list might be too, so you start adding them. Eventually you are in your own little Twitter world where all you see are comments that intrigue you, from people you respect.
Blogger has back-ported this Twitter-like Web 2.0 character into their environment with the new “followers” widget, which allows a blog ring tailored to your interests to emerge and organize itself.
exhelodrvr said, “Well, this is Obama’s chance to demonstrate his tough policy towards Pakistan.”
Wow, even the right wingers want Bush to take an early out. It’s not January 20 yet.
Cannoneer #4 said, “Joe Biden was right, Barack Obama will face an international test in the first six months. South Asia looks to be that test.”
The six months starts on January 20. How’s your boy doing with this international test, right now? Looks like he’s taking a pass. Even the righties want Obama to move against Pakistan, right now.
Wretchard said, “The twin supports of the the unrest in Afghanistan are Pakistan and the Middle East.”
It’s actually a tripod. You need at least three legs to stand something up. The third support of the unrest in Afghanistan and Pakistan is the CIA Predator hellfire missile airstrikes which kill civilians. The dream of winning push-button wars from the air remains now and forever science fiction.
Cannoneer #4 said, “One of the reasons most of us put up with governments and their incompetence, corruption and insatiable demand for more of our money is because they are supposed to protect us.”
The way they do that is through “security theater”. They set condition orange, yello, red, purple, mauve, oh look at all the pretty colors! They strip search grandma and make you take off your shoes and keep your lipstick in a ziplock bag and it sure looks like they’re keeping us safe. But the whole scam comes crashing down to earth when the baddies take some of those hundreds of billions of dollars in oil money we sent to Saudi Arabia and bribe an airport cargo handler or a maintenance guy to look the other way just this one time.
There is little evidence that I can see thus far, but couldn’t an uber objective of this operation be an outright war between India and that sorry state of affairs called Pakistan?
Good phrase, that, “security theater.”
The sovereign Westphalian nation-state of India is handling this event, so far. What could President Bush do that you would support?
Prashant Agrawal said “Joe Biden was right, Barack Obama will face an international test in the first six months. South Asia looks to be that test.” I merely quoted him.
I am not a rightie. I am Anti-Left.
Any attempt by the President-Elect to sieze power before January 20, 2009 must be vigorously resisted, kinetically if necessary.
“security theater” – good phrase, but there is a lot of security going on which is not theater, which involves real people and real consequences.
“Let’s roll…”
“It’s actually a tripod. You need at least three legs to stand something up. The third support of the unrest in Afghanistan and Pakistan is the CIA Predator hellfire missile airstrikes which kill civilians. The dream of winning push-button wars from the air remains now and forever science fiction.”
It isn’t my dream to win a war from the air. Anyone else here have that dream?
You’re confusing war fighting with “shock and awe” psyop. IOW softening up the enemy in the opening phase of fighting. I cannot believe that even today after all the crap that has been flung about, someone would suggest that anyone (other than the press) believes that the military believed that a war could be won from the air. Not even the Israelis believed it during their last go round with Hezbollah. But still the lie gets aired. I suppose that the intent is to make folks think the military is stupid. Ah, you really ought to understand something. It isn’t the military that comes off appearing shall we say, less than informed.
The twin supports of unrest in Afghanistan are Pakistan and the Middle east. If you insist on a third leg, not a twin, it would be the Opium trade.
It has been so long since an uncontested election allowed for a smooth transition of power at the White House, that I don’t recall how the thing is supposed to be civilly pulled off. The president elect has at this time no power to direct, no power to hire, no power to appoint, no power to veto, in short he has no power. What he has is the potential to power, which along with a warm bucket of spit doesn’t amount to anything until he has taken the oath of office or at least affirmed a close approximation of the same. Everything until then is shock and awe psyop and hot air. “Strategic Theater” does have a catchy something about it.
Could it happen in California, or New York, or some other place the terrorists actualy want to attack? Most definitely. – Thrasymachus
Point taken, but California is a very big place. San Francisco, Berkeley, parts of L.A. County – yeah, that might be easy pickings. Orange and San Diego Counties, well, there are a lot of streets like mine which probably have 200 weapons amount a dozen houses, with (active and ex-military) men behind those doors who are well trained in use and tactics. (And, that doesn’t include the gang-bangers down the street; I’m sure they have a few weapons of their own).
There is a reason beyond simply Bush’s “homeland” security that the terror stage hasn’t attached the American state since 9/11. Folks, for all their bravado, they have a well placed fear of us. They may be suicidal Islamic martyrs, but they are not nihilists.
- so many typo errors last time I’m reposting – regrets -
Could it happen in California, or New York, or some other place the terrorists actualy want to attack? Most definitely. – Thrasymachus
Point taken, but California is a very big place. San Francisco, Berkeley, parts of L.A. County – yeah, that might be easy pickings. Orange and San Diego Counties, well, there are a lot of streets like mine which probably have 200 weapons amoung a dozen houses, with (active and ex-military) men behind those doors who are well trained in use and tactics. (And, that doesn’t include the gang-bangers down the street; I’m sure they have a few weapons of their own).
There is a reason beyond simply Bush’s “homeland” security that the “terror state” hasn’t attacked the “American state” since 9/11. Folks, for all their bravado, the jihadies have a well placed fear of us. They may be suicidal Islamic martyrs, but they are not nutty nihilists.
Why are you trying to reason with or correct Tripod RR? She’s obviously never saluted the flag or she’d see that depending on the anchoring and the load it only takes one element to hold some things up.
RR is not here to learn something new or see something in a different light.
She is the human analog of what Rumsfeld called “unk-unk”; she doesn’t know that she doesn’t know.
Cannoneer #4: St Gabriel Possenti?
I thought that St Barbara (santabarbara)
would be your FDC.
A 105 is a little bulky for St Gabriel, is it not?
“Security theater” came from Bruce Schneier, a security technologist. It’s a great term for things that make us feel more secure but don’t really do the job. He didn’t think much of the recent FBI’s warnings about attacks on NY. I wonder what he will say about the Mumbai attacks. In the meantime, I will give more attention to St. Gabriel Possenti.
“Teach your children well.
Their father’s Hell will slowly go by….”
Yep. And teach your kids to shoot straight, and to have the means to do so.
I’ve been watching “The Russians are coming, The Russians are Coming!” as I’ve been reading the best blog on the internet. What a great movie. Hollywood doesn’t make them like they used to.
So I look up from my reading to catch the great scene near the end, the stand-off at the dock, where the Russians threaten to blow the village and villagers to kingdom come, and well then, all the villagers to a man draw their weapons large and small and aim squarely at the Russians. Classic American.
I have a neighbor who has guns, locked up in a safe as required by the Canadian Gun Registry. He’s a hunter, a gay hunter. When he received the registry number stickers for the guns, there were no instructions included, so he didn’t know which sticker number belonged on which gun.
Canadians in general are defenceless. When Mark Lepine massacred 14 young women in Montreal, all the men and women who could escape weren’t killed. It was that massacre that inspired the gun registry.
Dave, St Gabriel Possenti was a Catholic seminarian whose marksmanship and proficiency with handguns single-handedly saved the village of Isola, Italy from a band of 20 terrorists in 1860.
The feast day of St. Barbara is this coming Thursday. No Artillery Punch for me this year. My battery is disbanded and the piece I served is up for sale.
St Gabriel Possenti:
http://www.gunsaint.com/history.asp
Cannoneer, that is terrible. After all, it is artillery that lends a touch of dignity to what would otherwise be a vulgar brawl.