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India has evidence that two senior leaders of a banned Pakistani militant group orchestrated the
60-hour siege of India's financial capital that killed 171 people, Indian officials said Thursday.
Pakistan hat zugesichert, Indien bei der Aufklärung der Terroranschläge von Mumbai zu
unterstützen. Beim Besuch von US-Außenministerin Condoleezza Rice in
Islamabad versprach Parkistans Staatschef Asif Ali Zardari eine "entschlossene Aktion" gegen die
Hintermänner des Terrors. Inzwischen gibt es zwei konkrete Verdächtige.
Local media reports have quoted the Indian air force chief as saying authorities had received
warnings of a possible airborne attack. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in
Pakistan pushing leaders to help the terror investigation.div class="feedflare" a
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The recent terror attacks have raised a number of questions about our country's ability to secure
crowded places and screen suspect material from entering its borders. And though it might seem
like an after thought, the government says it is now fast tracking the import of security
equipment.
A Virginia woman whose husband and daughter were gunned down in last week's terror attacks in India
says the attackers should be forgiven. "We must send them our love, forgiveness and compassion,"
Kia Scherr said of the terrorists who launched the attacks. Scherr's husband Alan and daughter
Naomi were among those killed at the Oberoi Hotel.div class="feedflare" a
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Inte bara terrorism utan även de medel som används i kampen mot terrorn utgör ett
lÃ¥ngsiktigt hot mot de mänskliga rättigheterna, enligt en
rapport från Europarådet.img
src="http://server-dk.imrworldwide.com/cgi-bin/imodecount?url=http://www.expressen.se/RSS;cid=se_expressen-se_0"/
Inte bara terrorism utan även de medel som används i kampen mot terrorn utgör ett
lÃ¥ngsiktigt hot mot de mänskliga rättigheterna, enligt en
rapport från Europarådet.img
src="http://server-dk.imrworldwide.com/cgi-bin/imodecount?url=http://www.expressen.se/RSS;cid=se_expressen-se_0"/
The only gunman captured during the terror attack on Mumbai says he was promised that his
impoverished family would get $1,250 if he died fighting for militant Islam, security officials
said Wednesday.
divimg alt=""
src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/33001?ns=guardianpageName=World+news%3A+Pakistan+snubs+India+over+terrorist+%27suspects%27ch=World+newsc3=The+Guardianc4=Mumbai+terror+attacks+%28News%29%2CPakistan+%28News%29%2CWorld+news%2CIndia+%28News%29%2CTerrorism+-+international%2CUS+newsc5=Not+commercially+usefulc6=Vikram+Doddc7=2008_12_04c8=1128422c9=articlec10=GUc11=World+newsc12=Mumbai+terror+attacksc13=c14=h2=GU%2FWorld+news%2FMumbai+terror+attacks"
width="1" height="1" //divpPakistan's president yesterday rebuffed India's key demand that he hand
over 20 alleged terrorists, as the US intensified its efforts to ease tensions between the two
nuclear powers in the wake of last week's terrorist attacks in Mumbai./ppSpeaking from Delhi, the
visiting US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, told Pakistan it had a "special responsibility"
to help India's investigation into the terrorist attacks. Washington also sent its most senior
military official to Islamabad to hammer home the same message./ppWestern powers, led by the US,
are trying to stop tensions between the two countries spilling over after last week's attacks in
Mumbai, which killed more than 170 people. India and Pakistan have fought three wars and had
numerous skirmishes in the past 60 years. /ppIndia has demanded that Pakistan stop providing
sanctuary to 20 people it alleges are linked to violence against it. But Pakistan's president, Asif
Ali Zardari, yesterday appeared to reject this demand, saying the 20 would be tried in Pakistan if
there was evidence to charge them./ppZardari's comments are likely to anger India's government,
which is under sustained pressure from its people to take strong action in the wake of the
attacks./ppDelhi says all 10 terrorists in Mumbai were Pakistani, and had received training there
for a terrorist plot controlled from Pakistan that subjected India to a four-day national
nightmare. /ppZardari told CNN: "If we had the proof, we would try them in our courts and we would
sentence them." He said he doubted that the only terrorist captured alive was a Pakistani citizen,
as India alleges. "We have not been given any tangible proof that he is definitely a
Pakistani."/ppYesterday Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, arrived in
Pakistan. Mullen urged Pakistan to "investigate aggressively any and all possible ties to groups in
Pakistan" and "take more and more concerted action against militant extremists in the
country"./ppMost analysts, though, believe the eight-month-old Zardari presidency has limited room
for manoeuvre, even if it wants to help India's investigation. Zardari's civilian government faces
pressure from hardline groups not only to resist Indian demands, but over the help provided to the
west's war against al-Qaida and Taliban elements in its border region with Afghanistan./ppBut in
Delhi, Rice said: "This is the time for everybody to cooperate and do so transparently ... Pakistan
needs to act with resolve and urgency. That message has been delivered to Pakistan."/ppIn Mumbai,
public confidence in India's authorities suffered another blow after it emerged that bombs lay
undiscovered for a week at the city's main rail station attacked by terrorists last Wednesday.
Police found explosives hidden in a bag among abandoned luggage./pdiv style="float: left;
margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/mumbai-terror-attacks"Mumbai terror attacks/a/lilia
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/pakistan"Pakistan/a/lilia
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/india"India/a/lilia
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/terrorism"Global terrorism/a/lilia
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usa"United States/a/li/ul/diva
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of
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divimg alt=""
src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/40836?ns=guardianpageName=World+news%3A+A+toxic+legacych=World+newsc3=The+Guardianc4=Guantanamo+Bay+%28News%29%2CObama+White+House+%28News%29%2CBarack+Obama+%28News%29%2CUS+foreign+policy%2CUS+news%2CHuman+rights+%28News%29%2CWorld+newsc5=Not+commercially+useful%2CUS+Electionsc6=Julian+Borgerc7=2008_12_04c8=1128354c9=articlec10=GUc11=World+newsc12=Guant%C3%A1namo+Bayc13=c14=h2=GU%2FWorld+news%2FGuant%C3%A1namo+Bay"
width="1" height="1" //divpEver since January 11 2002, when the first 20 prisoners were flown in
from Afghanistan in orange jumpsuits and shackles, the Guantaacute;namo Bay detention camp has been
a hefty burden around the Bush administration's neck. /ppThe defence secretary at the time, Donald
Rumsfeld, picked the Cuban enclave as the "least worst place" to hold captives accused of
terrorism. But the effort to run a camp outside the reach of US or international law, so that
"enemy combatants" could be held indefinitely without charge, steadily corroded America's standing
in the world. The images of the inmates languishing in small metal cages in Camp X-Ray, the
rudimentary first phase of the complex, and the steady stream of reports of human rights abuses,
have taken a daily toll. The camp's existence has angered and embarrassed Washington's closest
allies, and become a recruitment tool for its enemies. /ppNearly six years on, there is no debate
over whether "Gitmo" should be closed - only how. As it approaches the end of its term, the Bush
administration is anxiously attempting to dispose of its own toxic legacy. John Bellinger, the
state department's top lawyer, has been trying to persuade other governments to accept detainees
cleared for release. More than 500 have already been sent back to their homelands or to third
countries, but there are still 250 prisoners left who cannot go home for fear of persecution and
who no one else will accept. They are now Barack Obama's problem./ppThe president-elect has
frequently stated his intention to close Guantaacute;namo. In an interview since the election, he
repeated that pledge, saying it was "part and parcel of an effort to regain America's moral stature
in the world". But the question of what to do with the remaining inmates still divides his
ideologically diverse national security and justice teams./ppObama's inaugural speech on January 20
will be closely scrutinised around the world for signs of how bold or cautious he decides to be.
His policy on Guantaacute;namo will be widely seen as a benchmark for his intentions as president.
/ppA report by a non-partisan panel of US security and human rights experts, entitled Closing
Guantaacute;namo: From Bumper Sticker to Blueprint, estimates that the camp could be emptied within
a year if the Obama administration decided on a clean break from Bush policies and devoted enough
resources to the job. The report advocates the establishment of an independent commission to review
the cases of all the detainees, to assess the evidence against them and order the immediate release
of the innocent./ppThe first task will be to complete the Bush administration's effort to find
homes for the 150-200 prisoners who, according to lawyers familiar with their stories, have no case
to answer but who cannot be sent back to their native countries for fear they would be victimised,
tortured or killed. /ppThe clearest example of inmates stuck in this limbo are the 17 Uighurs,
separatists from a Muslim minority in China who were seized in Pakistan during the Afghan war. They
have all been cleared for release by the US authorities, most as long ago as 2003, but have so far
not been accepted by any third countries. Albania agreed to take in five other Uighur detainees in
2006, but has refused to take any more. /ppBellinger's efforts to find any other government to
receive the Uighurs have been undermined by the adamant refusal of the US authorities to allow them
to live in America because of the presumed threat they pose to the US, in part because of presumed
animosity caused by six years of detention without charge. Obama's envoys may find they have better
luck than Bellinger./pp"I don't think anyone is inclined to do this administration any favours, but
Obama will find he has a lot of goodwill to draw on," a European diplomat says. But that goodwill
will be greatly enhanced if the new administration stops fighting the resettlement of inmates in
the US./ppA second category of prisoners will be referred for prosecution outside Guantaacute;namo,
but that raises the question of whether that prosecution should be conducted by military courts
martial in the US or the civilian legal system. That will be a decision that goes to the
philosophical heart of the issue - should the US approach terrorism as a military threat or as a
criminal enterprise, or some hybrid of the two? Obama has refrained from using the phrase "war on
terror", but he is said to be under pressure from the more conservative national security experts
on his team to leave his options open and not bind himself with the procedural constraints of the
civilian judiciary./ppOn the other side of the debate is a "rule of law" camp within the embryonic
administration which argues that anything short of a complete return to constitutional normality
would rob Obama of the international goodwill he might otherwise gain by scrapping
Guantaacute;namo./ppThat debate underlies the toughest dilemma the new administration is likely to
face on closing the offshore camp: whether there should be a third category of prisoners, deemed
too dangerous to release but too difficult to prosecute. The evidence against them may be in the
form of intelligence material that cannot be disclosed in court, or that falls short of legal
proof. Confessions would also be ineligible if they were obtained under torture, as in the case of
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks who was "waterboarded"
(subjected to simulated drowning) by the CIA. And few if any of the inmates of Guantaacute;namo
were reminded of their right not to incriminate themselves, which is standard police
practice./ppThe Bush administration has been seeking international agreement for a new form of
preventative detention that would allow inmates in this third category to be held in the US and
abroad. "The problem is you've got 200-plus very dangerous people, and the question is what do you
do with them. And these are people who say regularly: 'If I'm let out of here, I will go
immediately and start killing Americans again,'" Condoleezza Rice, the outgoing secretary of state,
said during a visit to London this week. She argued that "even though you know that this person is
a future threat, we don't really have a legal framework for that, which is why it's been done
within a war framework. But if you don't hold a person who you know is a future threat, then you
risk the deaths of thousands of innocents. So I do think that this is something for the
international community to take up."/ppThere is little sign, however, that the international
community has any appetite for such a departure from established human rights law. The decision on
preventative detention will be Obama's alone. Several of his advisers and allies, liberals
included, think that terrorism is such a pernicious threat, and the security risks of releasing
suspects are so great, that new legislation allowing for preventative detention is unavoidable. The
political risk of a released inmate carrying out an attack are also enormous. Such an event could
prove crippling to a new administration. /ppOn the other hand, any new system of preventative
detention would be seen around the world as Guantaacute;namo redux, human rights lawyers say. It
would be every bit as effective as an al-Qaida recruiting tool, and would perpetuate the
extremists' self-image as warriors rather than mere criminals. Within the internal debate under way
in the transition team, liberal activists want foreign governments to lobby Obama against creating
a new legal limbo. /ppIt is one of the toughest decisions the new president has in his in-tray.
What Obama decides will say a lot about his presidency. Sarah Mendelson, a senior fellow of the
Centre for Strategic and International Studies and author of the Closing Guantaacute;namo report,
says it is uncertain which way Obama would lean. But she adds: "My sense is the president-elect has
taught courses in the constitution in one of the most reputable law schools in country. He ran on
opting back into the international system. The idea of going for a new legal regime that will
result in more years in litigation is not going to appeal. It will not be the clean break he needs
to make."/ph2A history of the prison camp/h2p· January 11 2002: First prisoners
arrive/pp· February 27 2002: First hunger strike begins/pp· April 29 2002: The first
prison, Camp X-Ray, closes, replaced by a more solid concrete construction, Camp Delta/pp·
November 10 2003: US Supreme Court agrees to hear appeals from inmates that they are being held
illegally/pp· February 13 2004: Bush administration agrees to establish review panels to
establish whether inmates still pose a threat/pp· March 19 2004: Five British detainees
freed/pp· February 16 2006: The UN calls for the closing of Camp Delta, arguing that the
treatment of some inmates amounts to torture/pp· June 10 2006: Three inmates hang
themselves/pp· June 21 2006: President Bush first expresses the wish to close the
camp/pp· September 6 2006: Fourteen "high-value" detainees are transferred from secret CIA
prisons around the world to Guantaacute;namo, including Khaled Sheikh Mohamed, Abu Zubaydah and
Ramzi Binalshibh, three alleged planners of the 9/11 attacks/pp· June 12 2008: US Supreme
Court rules that inmates have the right to challenge their incarceration in the US courts/pdiv
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href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/guantanamo"Guantánamo Bay/a/lilia
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/obama-white-house"Obama White House/a/lilia
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Apparently, the latest brainwave is to boycott elections and refuse to pay taxes. This is from
people who have divested from the Indian state and generally consider the democratic process a
task best left to the unwashed masses. What was the voting % in South Mumbai last time? Now, the
terror has hit home a little too close to comfort, the cocooned Indian elite is suddenly
discovering that state matters.
I am no fan of Indian politicians but politicians matter. Ultimately, this country is going to be
run by someone–an elected politician remains our best bet. This generalized anger
against politicians led by the rampaging anchors of CNN-IBN and NDTV is not only meaningless but
dangerous. By vitiating the atmosphere against the politicians, it attempts to rob India of one
of her true strengths–democracy.
Also, it wastes the citizen’s best weapon: Accountability. Not all politicians are equally
culpable–the ones who rule at the center and state government bear direct responsibility.
When Gujarat 2001 happened, the fingers were rightly pointed at the man at the helm–you did
not blame the Congress opposition because it did not run the government. It is also amusing to
see TV anchors like Bakrha Dutt who were usually seen marching in candle light vigils nears Wagah
border and have done as much as the politicians–and here the blame must be equally
apportioned across both Congress and BJP–to delegitimize the Indian state suddenly turn
into warriors for the terror hit. I guess when your regular hangouts are hit, terror does seem
more real.
Anyway, two lessons are important. a) Accountability needs to be fixed not just at the political
level but must embrace every facet of the government–from intelligence bureau to NSG for
running an unprofessional rescue mission. Second, institutions matter. When has the Indian
philanthropist contributed to schools of public policy and national security?
Individuals are responsible and need to be fired. But that is no answer for a wide-spread
institutional malaise.
Raise your hand if
you remember the movie Screamers. OK,
keep your hand raised if you remember anything other than "Peter Weller," "Philip K. Dick," and
"box office failure." Yeah, that's what I thought. It's not that Screamers is that rotten
of a sci-fi horror movie ... more that it's just OK. Not awful, but certainly not cool enough to
warrant a full-bore cult following. But that hasn't stopped a bunch of Canadian filmmakers from
unleashing Screamers: The
Hunting.
I'll embed the trailer clip in just a sec, but since
Quiet Earth did the leg-work on this item, we'll refer you to
their site for more info. Screamers: The Hunting looks pretty plain across the board,
but of course I'm always interested in seeing a video sequel to a 14-year-old sci-fi flick that
nobody talks about anymore. (I'm weird that way. Someone kick me if they ever find a trailer for
Galaxy of Terror 2.) Digging a little deeper I learned that Screamers 2 was
directed by Sheldon Wilson (Kaw,
Shallow Ground) and written by Miguel
Tejada-Flores, who used to write fun flicks for Filmax, so I'm feeling 10% better about
Screamers: The Hunting than I was ten minutes ago.
Except ten minutes ago, I had no idea Screamers: The Hunting even existed. (Oh wait,
yes I did.)
Expect the flick's arrival in the next month or two. Probably on Sci-Fi Channel, but I'll just wait
for the DVD.
60 Stunden tobte die Gewalt in Mumbai - und die Sicherheitskräfte hatten kaum eine Chance
gegen die technologisch hochgerüsteten Täter. Wie sich jetzt herausstellte,
verfügten die Attentäter über modernste Kampf- und Kommunikationstechnologien. Und
die Sicherheitskräfte hatten nur Gewehre aus dem Zweiten Weltkrieg und nicht einmal eigene
Flugzeuge.
On the December 2 broadcast of The War Room with Quinn & Rose, co-host Jim
Quinn addressed a Media Matters for Americaitem documenting his suggestion during
the previous day's broadcast that "we" should respond to the recent terrorist attacks in
Mumbai, India, with military action even if "a lot of peaceful Muslims" are harmed or killed, as
well as his corresponding remark that "there was a lot of Germans that weren't Nazis either, but
we still bombed
Dresden." Quinn said of his December 1 comments: "Now, of course, again we come back to,
'Yes, but there's a lot of peaceful Muslims on the planet Earth.' Well, that's true. But if I'm
in a room with a thousand people, and 999 of them love me, but one has a gun and wants to kill
me, how relevant are the 999? They have no relevance whatever. I'm sorry, but peaceful Muslims
will only be relevant insofar as they rise up against those who are not peaceful, because this is
a pox on their house, and they need to cure it themselves."
Later in the December 2 broadcast, Quinn specifically addressed his prior reference to the
bombing of Dresden during World War II:
I mean, look at World War II, when I talked about the bombing of Dresden. One of the ways that
wars are fought -- and nobody wants to talk about it, but it's the truth -- is you cause so much
death and destruction to the civilian population of that nation that eventually the population of
the nation loses its zest for the war, and the political support of those waging that war
collapses. That's how you win wars. Ugly, isn't it? Sorry. What do you think Hiroshima
was about? Hmm? The bottom line is reality does not always afford you a truth to your liking,
Media Matters.
Quinn further discussed his October 29 assertion -- also documented by Media
Matters -- that "[t]here's only one way to settle the Palestine -- the Palestine
issue," and that "is to level it and then salt the earth so that nothing grows for a thousand
years, because that's how the Muslims would have treated each other, and did.' " Quinn said of
that comment, "Sorry, that's the truth. That is the historical truth, and -- and that's exactly
what they would do to us if the technology shoe was on the other foot." Quinn went on to assert,
"[T]here have been few religions in the world as deadly to man as that of Mohammad."
Talkers Magazine lists Quinn & Rose among its "Heavy
Hundred," which it describes as the "100 most important radio talk show hosts in America."
According to the show's website, it airs on 18
radio stations and XM Satellite Radio.
From the December 2 broadcast of Clear Channel's The War Room with Quinn & Rose:
QUINN: But the reason why Media Matters matters is -- is because they're different from
the other blogs. Media Matters for America has a conflict of interest, and the conflict
of interest is who funds them, and who runs them. Media Matters -- well, here, I'll give
you an example. Now, this is the latest one, Media Matters for America:
On December 1 broadcast of The War Room with Quinn & Rose, while reading from a blog
post by London Spectator columnist Melanie Phillips that discussed the recent terror
attacks in Mumbai, India, co-host Jim Quinn said, quote: "We either wipe this scourge from the
face of the Earth -- 'Well, you can't say that, because there's a lot of peaceful Muslims out
there.' Well, there was a lot of peaceful Germans that weren't Nazis either, but we bombed
Dresden. We either wipe this scourge from the face of the Earth, or we will be doomed to live
under it." Quinn continued, saying, "We have the technology. Do we have the spine? Don't answer
that if you have trouble sleeping, OK?"
Well, what's interesting to me, of course, is that none of you guys on the left get upset when
Muslims say the exact same thing about their desire for Western civilization. I mean, go through
the -- go through the Holy Land Foundation trial, and take a look at some of the transcripts from
that, and what their intentions are. Their intentions are to do it both peacefully and
militarily, and if they can't get it done peacefully, then militarily, but whatever it takes, a
global Islamic caliphate is on the way.
Now, of course, again we come back to, "Yes, but there's a lot of peaceful Muslims on the planet
Earth." Well, that's true. But if I'm in a room with a thousand people, and 999 of them love me,
but one has a gun and wants to kill me, how relevant are the 999? They have no relevance
whatever. I'm sorry, but peaceful Muslims will only be relevant insofar as they rise up against
those who are not peaceful, because this is a pox on their house, and they need to cure it
themselves. Because certainly there's -- there's no Islamic supremacist -- which is my word for
"Islamic terrorist" -- there's no Islamic supremacist that's gonna be convinced by my -- by any
of my arguments.
But it's interesting here just to watch Media Matters and how they -- you know, it's --
and they go on to say, "As Media Matters for America documented." Woo, they documented.
You know, all you guys have to do is buy a subscription to our webpage for $39.95 a month -- I'm
sure that George Soros can spring for that -- and you could just -- you could just download --
download the podcast for Heaven's sakes. It's like they've got a spy on the ground some place.
"As Media Matters for America documented, Quinn said on October 29, 'There's only one
way to settle the Palestine -- the Palestine issue,' and that is to quote, 'level it and then
salt the earth so that nothing grows for a thousand years, because that's how the Muslims would
have treated each other, and did.' " Unquote. Sorry, that's the truth. That is the historical
truth, and -- and that's exactly what they would do to us if the technology shoe was on the other
foot. You don't think for a minute that Muslim supremacists with a nuclear weapon wouldn't use
it? I mean, are you that foolish?
[...]
And as far as my feelings about supremacist Islam -- hey, guys, I said it before, and I'll say it
again: I studied the Quran a great deal, mainly because of our position vis-à-vis the
Muslim populations throughout the Middle East. And I must tell you that I came away from the
study with the conviction that, by and large, there have been few religions in the world as
deadly to man as that of Mohammad.
[...]
Now, we've got all these smart bombs, OK. We've got these special -- we've got -- what -- we've
got that thing now -- what is it -- what is it target -- I forget exactly what it is --
technology. You can slip something that's smaller than a dime into some terrorist's robe
somewhere, and -- and the rocket will hit him right in the middle of a crowd. You know, I mean,
it'll take him right out. And, you know, look, we can park a smart bomb in somebody's window, and
that's good when you're dealing with something like terrorism, which is an organization rather
than a nation-state. It's also good, I mean -- if you're going up against a nation-state, it's
only good if you park one in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's bathroom while he's sitting in there taking a
dump, but other than that, folks, the way --you have to understand, the ways that wars are
fought.
I mean, look at World War II, when I talked about the bombing of Dresden. One of the ways that
wars are fought -- and nobody wants to talk about it, but it's the truth -- is you cause so much
death and destruction to the civilian population of that nation that eventually the population of
the nation loses its zest for the war, and the political support of those waging that war
collapses. That's how you win wars. Ugly, isn't it? Sorry. What do you think Hiroshima was about?
Hmm? The bottom line is reality does not always afford you a truth to your liking, Media
Matters. Reality does not always afford you a truth to your liking. Accept reality or
perish.
(Image above by keerthi). Today marks one week since the attacks in Mumbai that killed and injured
hundreds (BB post #1, BB post #2). Skimming headlines this morning in the Times of India, the
post-attack narrative has now turned to the possibility of punitive strikes on Pakistan by India,
with some Indian media implying US support -- things could get a lot scarier, fast, given that both
nations have nukes. US Secretary of State Rice just arrived, and on this same day, they've found
bombs in the Mumbai train station that was an attack site. One of the other aftermath stories I've
been following: what tech devices the attackers used to orient themselves and coordinate
communications before, during, and after the attacks. VOIP phones, SIM cards, and Garmin GPS units,
among them. Some of this information is apparently the result of interrogation with the one known
surviving attacker, and is being printed in Indian tabloids, so I'm not sure of how reliable all of
this is. Anyway, snip from one more reputable account: [T]he terrorists who carried out the rampage
in Mumbai procured with ease five cell phone SIM cards -- three of which were being purchased from
Delhi's Karol Bagh area while the rest from West Bengal's 24 Parganas district, interrogation
records of the only arrested ultra have revealed. Mohammad Ajmal Amir Iman has told interrogators
that right through the fighting, the Lashkar-e-Taiba headquarters in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir
remained very much in touch with them, frequently calling their mobile phones via a
voice-over-Internet service. The government last year imposed strict rules on the issuance of SIM
cards by cellular services operators following the Mecca Masjid blasts in Hyderabad in May, where
terrorists had copiously used cell phones to trigger improvised explosive devises and send text
messages to their handlers in Pakistan. Here's another account: Each man was equipped with a
Kalashnikov rifle and 200 rounds of ammunition and grenades. The group also had at least one
state-of-the art Garmin global positioning system set, and several mobile phones fitted with SIM
cards, which have now been determined to have been purchased in Kolkata and New Delhi. Three men
had larger bags, packed with five timer-controlled Improvised Explosive Devices. More about the
attackers, who were apparently men in their early twenties, from Pakistan: They apparently took
large amounts of cocaine and LSD before and during the attacks to stay awake, in an altered state
of consciousness. And, a random, weird thing: one attacker captured alive by the Indian authorities
is shown below in a CCTV camera still. Remember how Indian TV news was reporting that his shirt
read "CRSA," speculating that this was some new terror organization, when the attacks were taking
place? Well, take a closer look. That's "VERSA", with the rest of the word cut off -- "VERSACE."
Loren Coleman has more. Previously: Suketu "Maximum City" Mehta on the Mumbai attacks - Boing Boing
India: Mumbai Attacks, Day Two; tech speculation - Boing Boing Maximum City: exhausting and
beautiful love-note to Mumbai - Boing ... Blasts kill hundreds in Mumbai: local bloggers react -
Boing Boing Boing Boing tv Update: Econopocalypse, Julie Amero, Holiday Gifts ... India: 80+
Reported Dead, 200+ injured in Bombay Terror Attacks ......br style="clear: both;"/ a
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