The Mumbai Terror Blame Game

The media is busy casting about for someone to blame in the deadly Mumbai terror attacks. They'll focus on the failings of law enforcement, the Indian government, and everyone but those on which responsibility for the attacks rests - the terrorists themselves (that is if they bother to call them terrorists at all; often they will refer to them as gunmen or militants).

That always seems to get lost in the blame game.

Law enforcement shouldn't get blamed for the attacks, but rather castigated for being unprepared to handle such an emergency situation and that a city of 13 million people didn't have a special weapons and tactics police group to handle such incidents is unforgivable.

That's a situation that can be corrected with due diligence and can help prevent future attacks as well as respond to future attacks in a far more decisive and swift manner that will reduce the chances of a mass casualty incident.

India also apparently didn't heed two US warnings over a possible attack according to CNN:

U.S. intelligence indicated that a group might enter the country by water and launch an attack on Mumbai, said the source, who refused to be identified due to the ongoing investigation into the attacks and the sensitivity of the information.

Indian security forces have confirmed to CNN that not only did U.S. officials warn them of a water-borne attack in Mumbai -- they were told twice. The area entered a higher state of alert for a week, including tightened security measures at hotels, but those efforts were eventually reduced, Indian officials said.

Local fisherman in Mumbai said they witnessed a group of gunmen dock their boat Wednesday night, before heading toward the busy causeway.

Again, intel failures and the inability to deal with intel in a time sensitive manner are issues that can be addressed and corrected, but that is a response to those who carry out the terrorism, not on whom blame can be assigned for the attacks.

India is demanding that Pakistan hand over 20 terrorists, including members of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

At the top the list are Laskhar-e-Taiba leader Hafiz Saeed, Jaish-e-Mohammed leader Maulana Masood Azhar, and mafia and terror kingpin Dawood Ibrahim. The Long War Journal has obtained the names of several other senior terrorist leaders wanted by the Indian Government.

The demands were made during a meeting between Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India Shahid Malik yesterday. The Indian foreign minister summoned Malik to the ministry and registered an official diplomatic protest with Pakistan.

"We have in our demarche asked for the arrest and handover of those persons who are settled in Pakistan and who are fugitive of Indian law," Mukherjee told The Times of India, noting India "will await" a response from Pakistan.

LeT is closely aligned with al Qaeda, and the Pakistani ISI has been known to support the terrorist group as well.

The terrorists received training and tactics courtesy of their stay in terror camps operating in Pakistan. That's simply intolerable and must be addressed by the Pakistani government. Their ongoing failure to stop the indoctrination of thousands into Islamist madrassas that call for jihad is tantamount to condoning such activities and the ISI helps facilitate those activities.

Pakistan knows what's at stake should the trail lead back to Pakistan's official door - either through inaction or assistance by the ISI (rogue or otherwise), and are hoping to defuse the situation with a joint investigation. That's probably in the best interests of both India and Pakistan, but both countries have to be willing to let the investigation go where it needs to - and if the outcome shows Pakistani complicity, Pakistan must be willing to accept responsibility. Likewise, if the attacks show no complicity, the Indian government must respect that as well.

At this point, the Indian investigation suggests that the terrorists had ex-military training although the nationality of the training isn't being released:

All the 10 terrorists, suspected to have been involved in the Mumbai attacks, were trained by ex-army personnel even as the lone arrested
terrorist has admitted to being a Pakistani, the police on Tuesday said.

Ajmal Amin Kamal, the only terrorist of the group of ten caught alive, has admitted he is a Pakistani and hailed from the Punjab province of Pakistan, Mumbai Police Commissioner Hasan Gafoor said.

"The group of ten had come from Karachi by ship, flew an SOS flag in international waters and then hijacked a trawler which they used to come near Mumbai's shores," Gafoor said.

The group of ten had been trained by former army personnel, some for over a year, Gafoor said, refusing to comment on the nationality of the army personnel.

When asked if there was any evidence of Pakistan's involvement in the attacks, Gafoor said, "At the moment investigations are on and if we have proof we shall present it."

He said there was no evidence of local persons involved in the attacks.

Meanwhile, the sole surviving terrorist captured following the attacks claims that his father sold him into LeT. I guess free will doesn't even enter his consciousness and that he had no problem going out and murdering hundreds of people - with the intention of killing thousands in the name of jihad. He's looking for a reason to excuse his heinous actions, but there are none. He's a stone cold murderous bastard.

Several terrorists are still believed to be at large.