Comments on: Bombay Attacked VI: Rant Edition http://www.chapatimystery.com/archives/homistan/bombay_attacked_vi_rant_edition.html what is the vertiginous chapati saying to me? Tue, 16 Mar 2010 06:21:29 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Rabia http://www.chapatimystery.com/archives/homistan/bombay_attacked_vi_rant_edition.html/comment-page-1#comment-144737 Rabia Thu, 11 Dec 2008 06:42:10 +0000 http://www.chapatimystery.com/?p=2128#comment-144737 the institute of policy studies is, I believe, the pro-establishment think tank that Shireen Mazari is associated with. It's basically an extremely right-wing, anti-Indian, islamist bunch of apologists for the ISI. the institute of policy studies is, I believe, the pro-establishment think tank that Shireen Mazari is associated with. It’s basically an extremely right-wing, anti-Indian, islamist bunch of apologists for the ISI.

]]> By: akbar http://www.chapatimystery.com/archives/homistan/bombay_attacked_vi_rant_edition.html/comment-page-1#comment-144661 akbar Sun, 07 Dec 2008 01:10:52 +0000 http://www.chapatimystery.com/?p=2128#comment-144661 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081206/ap_on_re_as/as_india_shooting http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081206/ap_on_re_as/as_india_shooting

]]> By: sepoy http://www.chapatimystery.com/archives/homistan/bombay_attacked_vi_rant_edition.html/comment-page-1#comment-144654 sepoy Fri, 05 Dec 2008 13:32:39 +0000 http://www.chapatimystery.com/?p=2128#comment-144654 laleh: I am just as much a consumer of media as you are, so my ideas about what happened are none the wiser than anyone else. The Indian officials seem very convinced that LeT was behind this, that some coordination happened from Pakistan. The Pakistani officials are less sure. The Pakistani media seems to blame RAW and MOSSAD. I am more interested in these narratives _about_ the incident - which was the focus of the Bombay Attacked series. Explicitly, how the story of these attackers and their motives was built up WITHOUT a whole lot of known facts. It was all known unknowns, as Rummy would say. If you are genuinely interested in my thoughts on what could have happened, I too can play the conjecture game. I think that in the annals of terror-making, there is something new here. These attackers did not try to create "maximum damage", they had no big bombs strapped and they didn't drive trucks into Taj (as they did at Islamabad Marriott). There were a lot of them, and they seemed to have wanted to kill in a variety of places. So the question is: what was the objective, first of all. Machine gunning people is a pretty crude tactic at this developed stage of global terror. That certainly raises questions about, whether or not, this operation was touched by al-Qaeda (My guess is not). Secondly, who were they? Were they foreigners? Did they just train in PK? Answers there are very important before we can go any further. Lastly, what was their propaganda? I think, this, gives us some hints as to why they didn't just drive a huge truck into the Taj and blow it up. They wanted to sustain not only the killing but their exposure to the media. Which again, hints that operationally these were not internationally known folks. They were trying to create a new mythos or maybe just a local narrative. Frankly, thats about as far as I can go. LeT, as a group and its history, are certainly imbricated in provoking Pakistan/India into military stand-offs. With that reading, I think Ahmed Rashid has the best analysis so far of what could have happened: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7764475.stm I hope this helps. laleh: I am just as much a consumer of media as you are, so my ideas about what happened are none the wiser than anyone else. The Indian officials seem very convinced that LeT was behind this, that some coordination happened from Pakistan. The Pakistani officials are less sure. The Pakistani media seems to blame RAW and MOSSAD.

I am more interested in these narratives _about_ the incident – which was the focus of the Bombay Attacked series. Explicitly, how the story of these attackers and their motives was built up WITHOUT a whole lot of known facts. It was all known unknowns, as Rummy would say.

If you are genuinely interested in my thoughts on what could have happened, I too can play the conjecture game. I think that in the annals of terror-making, there is something new here. These attackers did not try to create “maximum damage”, they had no big bombs strapped and they didn’t drive trucks into Taj (as they did at Islamabad Marriott). There were a lot of them, and they seemed to have wanted to kill in a variety of places. So the question is: what was the objective, first of all. Machine gunning people is a pretty crude tactic at this developed stage of global terror. That certainly raises questions about, whether or not, this operation was touched by al-Qaeda (My guess is not).

Secondly, who were they? Were they foreigners? Did they just train in PK? Answers there are very important before we can go any further.

Lastly, what was their propaganda? I think, this, gives us some hints as to why they didn’t just drive a huge truck into the Taj and blow it up. They wanted to sustain not only the killing but their exposure to the media. Which again, hints that operationally these were not internationally known folks. They were trying to create a new mythos or maybe just a local narrative.

Frankly, thats about as far as I can go. LeT, as a group and its history, are certainly imbricated in provoking Pakistan/India into military stand-offs. With that reading, I think Ahmed Rashid has the best analysis so far of what could have happened:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7764475.stm

I hope this helps.

]]> By: laleh http://www.chapatimystery.com/archives/homistan/bombay_attacked_vi_rant_edition.html/comment-page-1#comment-144636 laleh Wed, 03 Dec 2008 23:12:44 +0000 http://www.chapatimystery.com/?p=2128#comment-144636 So, what is your conjecture on this? A genuine and earnest question from someone who is confused by this, and who is willing to believe that the act was perpetrated by Islamists, but who doesn't understand certain things (reports that the guys drank beers at Leopold bar; the Versace shirt etc, the involvement of Dawood). I don't understand the hints you drop and don't know how to connect your liked and disliked articles to one another, since my knowledge about Pakistan is not thick or deep. What do you think could have happened? So, what is your conjecture on this? A genuine and earnest question from someone who is confused by this, and who is willing to believe that the act was perpetrated by Islamists, but who doesn’t understand certain things (reports that the guys drank beers at Leopold bar; the Versace shirt etc, the involvement of Dawood). I don’t understand the hints you drop and don’t know how to connect your liked and disliked articles to one another, since my knowledge about Pakistan is not thick or deep. What do you think could have happened?

]]> By: Bombay attacked at Blogbharti http://www.chapatimystery.com/archives/homistan/bombay_attacked_vi_rant_edition.html/comment-page-1#comment-144618 Bombay attacked at Blogbharti Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:27:50 +0000 http://www.chapatimystery.com/?p=2128#comment-144618 [...] Sepoy, at Chapati Mystery, questions the experts in the Western press: Then there was someone named Reena Ninan waxing eloquently about “our 9/11? on FOX News. Which, to the anchor, meant only that India must now act like US did (given the usual suspects, so far): [...] [...] Sepoy, at Chapati Mystery, questions the experts in the Western press: Then there was someone named Reena Ninan waxing eloquently about “our 9/11? on FOX News. Which, to the anchor, meant only that India must now act like US did (given the usual suspects, so far): [...]

]]> By: Proloy http://www.chapatimystery.com/archives/homistan/bombay_attacked_vi_rant_edition.html/comment-page-1#comment-144609 Proloy Mon, 01 Dec 2008 07:15:28 +0000 http://www.chapatimystery.com/?p=2128#comment-144609 I posted a comment complimenting you on the aesthetically designed website. Think it got lost somehow. So posting again. Please read the opinion piece I posted on my blog as well. Would be good to hear your opinion on it. Regards, Proloy I posted a comment complimenting you on the aesthetically designed website. Think it got lost somehow. So posting again.

Please read the opinion piece I posted on my blog as well. Would be good to hear your opinion on it.

Regards,
Proloy

]]> By: sepoy http://www.chapatimystery.com/archives/homistan/bombay_attacked_vi_rant_edition.html/comment-page-1#comment-144607 sepoy Mon, 01 Dec 2008 03:40:53 +0000 http://www.chapatimystery.com/?p=2128#comment-144607 On the Dawood Ibrahim connection, some reporting is coming out: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1042197.html and http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/dec/01/comment-and-debate-misha-glenny Too early to say anything, of course. On the Dawood Ibrahim connection, some reporting is coming out:

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1042197.html
and
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/dec/01/comment-and-debate-misha-glenny

Too early to say anything, of course.

]]> By: Jonathan Dresner http://www.chapatimystery.com/archives/homistan/bombay_attacked_vi_rant_edition.html/comment-page-1#comment-144606 Jonathan Dresner Mon, 01 Dec 2008 03:05:05 +0000 http://www.chapatimystery.com/?p=2128#comment-144606 That last line is going to haunt me for a while. There is a sort of psychopathology involved in terrorism which is very much of a piece with our particularly American (so far) self-destructive suicide-homicide-rage-fame incidents. You cited something earlier about ties to criminal organizations. That seems to make some sense -- more so that most of the other blathering out there -- but it hasn't gotten much traction. Is new evidence actually available yet, or are we still in limbo? That last line is going to haunt me for a while. There is a sort of psychopathology involved in terrorism which is very much of a piece with our particularly American (so far) self-destructive suicide-homicide-rage-fame incidents.

You cited something earlier about ties to criminal organizations. That seems to make some sense — more so that most of the other blathering out there — but it hasn’t gotten much traction. Is new evidence actually available yet, or are we still in limbo?

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