As Mumbai starts to clean up after the terrorist invasion, and I consider it an invasion rather than a strike because of the type of planning involved, the stories about the terrorists setting up command centers, and other tales of which we don’t really know how truthful they are as of yet. But the fact that they tried to blow up a building, and failed to use enough explosives only reminded me of the earlier attacks in New York in 1993. And at least one of the captured terrorist said the plan was to kill 5,000 in Mumbai, but he was wired on more than just coffee so it is difficult to know how realistic that statement was. The current casualty figures are in the low 200’s right now, which is horrific enough.
But there is no doubting the massive scale of this operation, and while Indian authorities seemed to gain the upper hand rather quickly, there is simply no way to guard every soft target in the world without turning the planet into a giant police state. But if these terrorists are any thing like al-Qaeda (and they may indeed be a part of al-Qaeda), I cannot shake the feeling that they will look at what went right and what went wrong with their assault, and try to be more efficient killers on the next try. Because lets face it, a failure like this assault in no way is going to stop crazy people making more insane plans, and the next time, they will just strike harder if they are still able to.
At this point, while most believe the attacks came from Pakistan, I cannot find anyone that has conclusive proof as of yet, and after McVeigh bombed Oklahoma City, I myself am wary of placing blame before knowing for sure who is responsible. Pakistan is proclaiming their innocence, which I believe about as much as a used-car salesman with horns on his head. But threats were made from Lashkar-e-Taiba from Pakistan to India, so perhaps everyone is right to be blaming them. In fact, many are saying that it is common knowledge that the Pakistani Secret Police, the ISI, and Lashkar-e-Taiba are in fact working together, which makes me just oh-so-grateful that Pakistan is our ally.
India is bracing for a backlash against their Muslim population, and far right Hindus could easily use this attack to justify a wave of violence within the country. And if they could actually target the parties responsible for the attack, this would be just fine, but as we all know, revenge is a blunt instrument that kills without concern for who is truly guilty. And of course, the innocents killed in the NEXT wave of violence will be used as a call to arms.
Hopefully, these attacks will force action against so-called allies if it does turn out that the terrorists came from Pakistan, as I am sick of sending foreign aid money to countries that either turn a blind eye to, or actually assist the terrorists there.
