Comments on: Mumbai

By: H.P. Baxxter

H.P. Baxxter — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:26:12 +0000

That’s the standard military term. The grammar, though, isn’t. “Mopping up resistance”, not mopping up the people. What I find insensitive is the word “militants”, where “terrorists” would have done nicely.

By: Pat

Pat — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:34:47 +0000

Am I the only one who found the Sunday Times headline extremely insensitive?
“Indian commandos mop up last of Mumbai militants”

By: H.P. Baxxter

H.P. Baxxter — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 12:58:29 +0000

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7757122.stm

Makes sense. Heads are already rolling.

Yes, Daphne, and it’s interesting that you should mention it. On the 29th September, the very same Egyptian unit, Al-Sa’aqa (Thunderbolt), freed 19 hostages in Chad, without any major hitch, albeit with the assistance (technical or otherwise??) of German and Italian units. We’re still very hazy on the details, and it would appear that the hostages (who had been kidnapped in Egyptian territory) were in fact abandoned by the kidnappers on the previous day. Still, it was very sensible on the part of the Egyptian government to allow NATO-trained units to participate.

By: H.P. Baxxter

H.P. Baxxter — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 21:57:36 +0000

Let me be the first to say this. The day after the Beslan siege, everyone was ripping into the Russians for having been extremely incompetent, untrained, for preferring to kill the terrorists rather than save the hostages, etc etc. We’ve seen much the same thing here. All we could see were uncoordinated groups of disorganised soldiers carrying INSAS rifles, shooting at random targets. Just a 20-round magazine in the rifle, and nothing else, no extra ammunition, no surveillance equipment, nothing. Then, when the National Security Guard was deployed, we couldn’t see any marked improvement in command and control, or indeed, in individual tactics. And we’re talking about India supposedly elite counter-terrorist unit. Not exactly reassuring. I hope everyone will learn some lessons from this mess.

[Daphne – We saw it in Malta, too, when Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici refused to allow a US crack team to lay siege to that hijacked Egyptair plane (ghax ahna kontra l-Amerikani), and the result was disastrous.]

By: H.P. Baxxter

H.P. Baxxter — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 18:32:07 +0000

Nothing to get excited about. These things have been going on in India for quite a while. Besides, there are plenty of Islamist terries running around without the Pakistani ISI putting its finger in it. Its main area of concern is the Pakistani/Afghan theatre. And there, yes, things are going to ratshit. But that is to be expected in any counterinsurgency. The insurgents will lie low for a while, and then start hitting back, and harder, when they re-organise/re-equip themselves.

By: Harry Purdie

Harry Purdie — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 00:27:33 +0000

Following this on CNN. Daphne, good point. It’s just about ready to blow there. Eleven cops dead, terrorists killed and captured, 87 civilians killed, hostages in both hotels. These people are out of control, however, how do we, in our comfortable lives begin to comprehend their cause, purpose or goals.

By: Tony Pace

Tony Pace — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 22:06:01 +0000

And we complain about the utilities surcharge, bread going up by 2 cents, and the potholes in the roads…….

[Daphne – In the past, when people were restive, a war would be whipped up to give them something to really worry about.]

By: Pat

Pat — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 21:27:19 +0000

There are talks about Pakistani intelligence service being involved. I sincerely hope this is just a rumour, as things was finally stabilising (in comparison) in the region. Am I mistaken in thinking they are both nuclear powers?

On a small sidenote, Wikipedia already have updated their Mumbai page with reference to the attacks.