Typo in the title there!

I agree that they are almost certainly Baptist. Second choice for me is those uppity Buddhists.Though we will probably never find out here in Canuckistan,as we all know religion has nothing to do with terrorism.

Thanks. Fixed.

No, no, no! Deccan Mujhaideen are social conservatives, you know, like evangelical Christians. Although I'm not sure why evangelical christians were in Mumbai . . .

Somewhat related: Thai protestors have taken over the Bangkok airport. The common denominator being non-western citizens of non-western nations holding westerners hostage, literally and figuratively, to settle scores that have nothing to do with us. We should be embargoing the crap out of any country that pulls these stunts.

Though we will probably never find out here in Canuckistan,as we all know religion has nothing to do with terrorism.
Posted by: wallyj at November 26, 2008 5:09 PM

No doubt, the "militants" carrying out the attacks "represent a broad stratum" of Indian society.

*
"A waterboarding in Guantanamo will be a wishful
dream in their coming hours."

no secrets in a third world interrogation suite...
these guys will be confessing to killing jfk by
the time the first set of battery cables are worn
out.

*

I blame those who believe in the Co-ren. You know? That bald headed guy on CTS.

Posted by: neo at November 26, 2008 5:31 PM

"...these guys will be confessing to killing jfk by the time the first set of battery cables are worn out."

That could quickly expand to having had sexual relations 'with that women', having 'inhaled' when toking, and having been present in the front pew for Wright's sermons. They might balk at any reference to contacts with brother-bomber William Ayers.

This attack still has legs considering hostages taken and potential further targets.

Quick access to any potential intelligence is imperative. I wonder if anybody holded up in some of those hotel rooms, awaiting rescue, is giving any thought to the *rights* of the captured terrorists at this moment.

An obvious inside job.

Once again it is the innocent people that have been attacked. These are such brave men that plant bombs and target people while they are asleep. Water boarding is too kind for the likes of all of them. A country brought to it knees, once again. We must be thankful that with SDA, we still have faith that there are truly good people still in the world. (I did post in readers comments as it was unfolding live on CNN...)

Hopefully it will be retracted later that it was an error...

"None of the hostage takers were taken alive."

In unrelated news "B52's were mass-sortied from Diego Garcia and Guam."

j/k on the unrelated. Well, kinda "hoping" that the USAF is gonna do some landscaping and redecorating to "change" some minds about doing these attacks again.

This is a very sad event, and it lets us know once again what a sorry state the world is in. Whatever can be done to stop this insanity?

LindaL,

What can be done to stop this insantiy? Killing the people who want to do it would be a start.

Killing them before they do it would be ideal.

Those Baptists sure get around!
Last report was 73 lives lost at another hotel. There calling it a Night of terror. Mostly Westeners targeted. I am sure they cared for the other none western infidels as much.
One news orginization say's its Osama & his band of killers. Next few day's after the confessions (You can be sure they will squeel like pigs) of the murders we will know more.

Hockey sticks are widely used by Indian police to straighten the scooter drivers' manners. What they use on the terrorists I don't know and don't want to know.

Rights? For now the only right they have is the right to stay alive and tell everything they know.

LindaL, yes, the world's insane. Here's an excerpt from a November 21st article by Caroline Glick that describes the problem and solution (emphasis mine):

Civilization walks the plank

By Caroline B. Glick

... As David Rivkin and Lee Casey explained in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, the problem with contending with piracy [terrorism] is not so much military, as legal and political. . . in today's world, states are unwilling to apprehend pirates [terrorists] or contend with them because they [states] are likely to find themselves in a sticky legal mess.

"In centuries past, in accordance with established international law, it was standard practice for naval captains to hang pirates after capturing them. Today, when EUROPE has outlawed capital punishment, when criminal defendants throughout the WEST are given more civil rights than their victims, and when irregular combatants picked off of battlefields or intercepted before they attack are given — at a minimum — the same rights as those accorded to legal prisoners of war, states lack the political will and moral clarity to prosecute offenders. As Casey and Rivkin note, last April the British Foreign Office instructed the British navy not to apprehend pirates lest they claim that their human rights were harmed and request and receive asylum in Britain.

“The West's perverse interpretations of human rights and humanitarian law, which bar it from handling one of the most acute emerging threats to the international economy, is a consequence of the West's abdication of moral and legal sanity in its dealings with international terror. In the 1960s and 1970s, when international terrorism first emerged as a threat to international security, the West adopted international treaties and conventions that tended to treat terrorism as a new form of piracy. Like piracy, terrorism was to be treated as an attack on all nations. Jurisdiction over terrorists was to be universal . . .

“[The] inversion of the aims of international law—from protecting states and innocent civilians from attack to protecting aggressors from retaliation—has brought about the absurd situation where terrorist ideologues and commanders like Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi are feted in Britain while retired Israeli and American generals are threatened with arrest . . .

“The consequence of this absurd state of affairs is obvious. The international law champions who argue that international humanitarian law provides a non-violent means for nations to defend themselves against aggressors have perverted the purpose and meaning of international humanitarian law to such a degree that the only way for nations to protect themselves against pirates, terrorists and other international rogues is to ignore international law aficionados and secure their interests by force.”

Sock it to them, India!

I think I'm wrong. It's not the believers of the Co-ren; pirates attacked the hotels.

I look forward to hearing what The Messiah has to say about this. His days of voting "present" are over.

Best way to deal with these crazed lunatic terrorists, if caught, is by military firing squad.

They don't deserve or have a right to the niceties that civilian legal systems afford them.

Personally, I don't think that they even deserve the formality of a military trial either. The cost of a bullet is too much to spend on them.

We can accurately predict that atttacks like this one will happen here if we don't get better control of our immigration policy.

The Indians want to determine which group of malcontents are doing this. Al Queda is one issue, and bad enough, but the last time, in 2006, it was thought tohave been formented by the Pakistani ISI and India started revving up its armed forces. Pakistan responded in kind and threatened a little nuclear drum solo, as they did in 1990.

Very important to determine who and why. Was it your run of the mil Baptist plot or was it a Baptist Plot run out of Baptistabad? If the latter by your iodine now.

Due to the now confirmed stories that the attackers were seen dancing in the street, we can rule out Babtists.

Maybe Unitarians, but certainly not Babtists.

Sorry . . . couldn't resist . . . the result of being married to one :)

"Gunmen opened fire at about 2300 local time (1730 GMT) at the sites in southern Mumbai.

Mumbai journalist: "Gunmen were looking for Westerners"

"The terrorists have used automatic weapons and in some places grenades have been lobbed," said AN Roy, police commissioner of Maharashtra"

The Press seem to prefer the term"gunmen" and use it repeatedly in the article.

Yet the police commissioner and other government personnel quoted insist on calling them "terrorists"!

Seems they aren't the least bit concerned with the "gunmen"s sensitivities.

Thank God some Countries still know how to defend themselves. Give'em hell, India.

Cue the CAIR press release warning AmeriKKKa about reprisals against the peace loving, teddy bear hugging, metrosexual Muslim American community.

"I agree that they are almost certainly Baptist"

No way. The Amish did it. They were going to snap anytime. And don't forget about the dastardly Mormons. We came within a whisker of nominating one to run for President, don'tcha know!

9/11 defined much of George's term

lets see what the terrorist's have in store for the "hand sitter"

and I for one will be waiting for Hussein's response, if he can get his hands to function

I wonder if The Indians will use any of the interesting techniques they learned from the British?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Vereshchagin-Blowing_from_Guns_in_British_India.jpg

Details still sketchy. I have heard reports that hospitals were attacked as well at the same time.

I am sure things will get clearer once the "fog of war" clears and some of the detainees start to speak/squeak/leak

Looks like the work of Hobamists Rev.Wright and Bill Ayers.

Noam Chomsky is in the bathroom, stall 911, and can't be reached for comment.

"looking for Westerners"? That would be mostly white men, wouldn't it?

Hey Carleton! This one's for you!

It's really starting to annoy me, the way everyone immediately starts looking for an Al-Qaeda link. When are we going to face facts? This is a battle with Islam, not a battle with Al-Qaeda.

I presume the pigs will be slaughtered for their fat to bathe the scum.

Of course I recognize the irony in your "Baptist" comment but ... with a vomit bag at the ready ... watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JKeNsfsY1k

Why do I suspect that this video would resonate well with a great portion of the Radical Left in Canada?

Am I cynical or just realistic?!

I watched a movie with Robin Williams that supposedly was set in the Warsaw ghetto.I watched until they said the gestapo waterboarded someone and it sickened me to think that someone would equate what the gestapo did with waterboarding.I read a book by a Russian journalist who talked with survivors that told of Treblinka where when the prisoners were naked and there was no escape because of high fences and the gas chamber ahead,one of the guards would let loose dogs that were trained to atttack mens genitals for sport.I hate to think what they would do for information.

"Reporting live from India:"

Notes:
- As you may recall, the Indian Muslim community has recently condemned terrorism. The Indian Muslim community in general is certainly not behind, nor support, these attacks.
- Although the majority of recent terror attacks are assumed to be by various Muslim groups, there has also been a rise in Hindu terrorism (and violence in general, including against Christians)
- The danger with religion, and especially Islam these days, is when it mixes with politics. And we can see the results of religion+politics (however muddled) in events like these Mumbai attacks.

See this link:
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080074206&ch=11/27/2008%2011:08:00%20AM

"There is a desperate hostage situation in at least two locations -- the Taj and the Trident hotels. In the Taj Colaba, at least 100 people are believed to be trapped probably held hostage by terrorists. Some of these are Israeli and Canadian nationals."

"At least 14 policemen have been killed across the city, including the head of the Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad Hemant Karkare, who was shot three times in the chest."

"A little-known outfit, the Deccan Mujahiddeen, has claimed the responsibility for these attacks."

""Encounter is on between police and terrorists at Taj and Trident. Our people have surrounded them and the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) team has arrived at the Taj hotel," A N Roy, Deputy Police Commissioner.
"

How the heck can we blame this on Bush and Cheney? They had to be involved....

"How the heck can we blame this on Bush and Cheney?"

Just read some of the comments in cbc.ca and you will see.

#1 writes:
"I disagree with the idea that the United States is solely responsible for the attacks which occurred"... "I'd like to believe there's more to this than the ignorance and stupidity of a few republicans"

#2 writes:
"GO BUSH GO
What a wonderful era we live in where the American people have inflicted upon the world the worst, most incompetent and discredited regime in its history. By neglect it has allowed world terrorism to once again surface as a force to be reconed with."

I hope the Indians pound these losers into the sand.

Is there any weapon the western world has that could be dropped or shot at something Islamic, that might help?

What about that big rock from 2001 A Space Odessy that the terrorists walk around while they whip themselves?

Do we need that?

I wonder if the Marines could spare a certain marksman for a short while?
We have some new work for him.

To give a sense of why this is even more of a shock.

This would be the equivalent of an attack on san dieago, Corronado Island in particular.

The Indian naval base is right next door, there are two major police complexes in the area.

This is a brazen attack done right at the heart of the Indian military. We may not get the message but I bet the Indians do.

Canada's equivalent...Iagine an attack in Halifax or Victoria (Esquilmault) right besude the naval yard and you'll understand the questions that will be asked about lack of security, lack of tracking of boats etc etc.

More coming out....one rumour is the boat made the tip from Karachi.

Look on Google maps and see how close the naval yard is, how many ships are tied up and what a couple of fast moving skiffs loaded with explosives could do.....

Lots of questions about to be asked within India.

This could definitely destabilize India.

The Hindu's are going to lose their F'ing minds.

When some Muslim nutcase savages burned a train killing a couple hundred Hindus, the Hindus when on a 2 or 3 day killing spree. Burning and shooting up their most important city will not cause peace and harmony...

Its pretty much been confirmed that they are (relatively) fair skinned Punjabi speakers who used a trawler that has since been located adrift, complete with decapitated crew member.

Interestingly, they tried to pass themselves off as the darker, non-punjabi speaking Indian muslims from the Deccan region - "Deccan Mujahideen" they called themselves. Unfortunately for them, Punjabi is easily recognizable, and they are too fair to be from the darker south. All indicators point towards Pakistan. Apparently the sole alive arrested terrorist is from Faridkot, Pakistan.

It won't destabilize India in the way Warwick suggests. That was very much a regional anomaly (in Gujarat state) that was restricted to two cities, and carried out by a certain linguistic group that is known for only picking fights against those weaker than them - unarmed civilians generally. The center left federal government is not going to give them the leeway the right wing federal government did in 2002, and the thought of having armed Punjabi soldiers in the streets of Gujarat scares the hell out of them. They were running scared within days of their famous riots - when the government was forced to send in the Sikh Punjabi supercop KPS Gill in. Gill, incidentally, is banned from travelling to the west because of the extrajudicial methods he used during the Sikh insurgency. And what of the (Pakistani-funded) Sikh insurgency? It is dead, because of Gill and his 'illegal' tactics.

Human rights are respected in India (as opposed to China or other countries in similar economic standing), but they go out of the window the moment you have blood on your hands. Which, frankly, is the way it should be.

Stephen,

Colossal intelligence failure. But the military responded fast, and well. You don't need to live in India to know how crowded that particular area is. The death toll could have been far higher, given the indiscriminate nature of the attacks. Its almost a carbon copy of the US school shootings, except on a larger scale. Unprecedented, on this scale and in this part of the world.

For what its worth, Mumbai is no longer the main naval hub for the west - a new base is located in a more remote area in the South, so most of those ships you see on google maps aren't there anymroe. Something about having skyscrapers overlooking the naval nerve center.

I was hoping all the terrorists would be killed, but now that you mention it, a little torture goes a long way and produces quite a satisfying smirk too.

"It's really starting to annoy me, the way everyone immediately starts looking for an Al-Qaeda link. When are we going to face facts? This is a battle with Islam, not a battle with Al-Qaeda."

Agreed.

It's amazing how the true and only link is once again ignored. The Quran, Hadith and Sira.

Just doing what they've been commanded and explicitly shown what to do.

As the terrorists are gang raped in an Indian slum prison…….”America where are you? Help us, pleeeeeese, we beg of you”.

"This is a battle with Islam, not a battle with Al-Qaeda"

Really? If so, there would be a battle with 100 million Muslims, in India alone. This is obviously not the case. There are no riots or Muslim-Hindu killings going on on the streets of e.g. Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata (where I am right now). Muslims and Hindus go along with their lives just fine. So what are you talking about?

This is a battle with Islamists (Deccan Mujahedeen, Al Qaeda, Wahabism, whatever), not Islam.

(In the West, the battle is to preserve the values of the liberal enlightenment against threats from the PC crowd, Sharia fanatics, "reasonable accomodation" pushers et al, but that is the West's problem, not Islam's.)

I note it took quite some time till news the 'Islamicist' Thuggies were murdering the Rabbis in the Chabad House in Mumbai to hit the MSM. (~24hrs) And while I shudder to think how quick (or slow :-( ) our own response would be here, given the scale and speed these cowards evidenced, and not wanting to be 'first-to-ask', either - but why are the Indian anti-terror squads only NOW getting to attempting to shoot them out?

well, watching streaming IBN, picked up more data - I'll retract the question above, partially in an case. The action proceeeds as I type, still grenades going off...possibly still folk alive inside, plus the death cultists of course.
Evidently, the access to the Nariman (Chabad)House was only through a very narrow alley, and it's not like with two twenty-story hotels to re-take, with hundreds at risk, that there would have been resources fully available...
My comment about the MSM reportage stands - it's now all over of course, but...

Daisy, predictable as ever.

In all likelihood, the attack involved both homegrown and foreign elements. That said, it is not representative of the 140 million odd muslims in India. The Pakistanis (including thier government) have been fostering the radical element in India to detract from Indian claims of Pakistani based cross-border terrorism so there are almost definitely Indian born Muslims doing the bidding of the Pakistani groups.

And tiburon, having spent extensive time in the region, I can assure you that the 'Jews as victims' mindset has never really taken a grip in India, insofar as they are treated as ordinarily as anybody else. On the plus side, that means that India is remarkably popular with young Israelis after their mandatory military service - no matter where you go in India, you will find an Israeli. They love the general political and religious apathy towards them - I guess it is in stark contrast to their experience as Jews in the west, where their religion defines their identity regardless of whether they want it to, or not. On the flip side, just because a rabbi is taken hostage, all efforts are not going to be directed at rescuing him.

There were hotels with hundreds of hostages that were more pressing. Indian press coverage, and the majors - BBC and CNN (International) have been reporting on the Chabad house incident since the beginning. I can only assume that by the MSM, you are talking about the North American MSM, which, as usual, is utterly uninterested in the rest of the world. FOX News doesnt even have correspondants in India - they were buying out local coverage, which was quite amusing, when the local channel decided to revert to the regional dialect, leaving quite a few anchors and viewers flummoxed.

For what its worth, the building was put under surveillance immediately, and a perimeter set up. They observed the appartments all night, using night vision equipment, and went in early in the morning. When the choppers were going in to airdrop troops, they came under fire. But they made it. Its winding down now.

According to media reports here in India, it seems all terrorists were Pakistani nationals.
One, a 21 year old who speaks fluent English and looks like a polished middle-class and educated person, is still alive, and has apparently named all other co-terrorists.
He has also stated that they wanted to hit at the symbols of India economic progress, in the same way as 9/11 hit at the WTC.
The plan, they were told by their leaders, was to carry out the attack and then return.