Terror Hits Mumbai

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright November 28, 2008
All Rights Reserved.                    

         India’s financial capital Mumbai was struck in multiple locations by Islamic terrorists, possibly from neighboring Pakistan, continuing a cycle of violence waged since Muslim Pakistan declared its independence from British rule Aug. 14, 1947, eventually establishing an Islamic Republic March 23, 1956.  India and Pakistan have fought several wars and ongoing skirmishes since 1947 over the disputed area of Kashmir, ceding the Northwest to Pakistan, Central and Southern to India and Northeast to China.  Islamic radicals seeking to unify Kashmir into an Islamic state have battled India since the end of WW II.  No one knows yet whether this week’s well-planned terror attacks, killing 150 and injuring more than 300 at Mumbai’s train station, Taj Mahal and Oberoi’s Hotels and Chabad’s Mumbai Jewish Center, were orchestrated by al-Qaida, the terrorists responsible for Sept. 11.

            Teams of FBI investigators were dispatched to Mumbai to determine the precise source the terror attacks.  Sources inside India suspect more that Kashmiri separatists unrelated to Osama bin Laden or the Taliban coordinated the attacks at Mumbai.  Almost eight years after the U.S. invaded Afghanistan immediately after 9/11, Osama bin Laden and remnants of the renegade Taliban regime continue to recruit and plan terror attacks from the ungoverned tribal lands along the mountainous Afghan-Pakistan border.  U.S. forces have made little progress in the region, despite periodic predator drone attacks.  During the campaign, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) told audiences, if president, he would follow Bin Laden to the “gates of hell,” yet condemned President-elect Barack Obama for saying he would go after Bin Laden in his suspected hiding place near the Afghan-Pakistan border.

            Indian officials, without supplying details, pointed fingers at Pakistan, though not specifically fingering al-Qaida or the Taliban.  Calling it “elements in Pakistan,” Indian authorities are getting closer to making a positive ID.  “My administration has been working with the Indian government and the international community as Indian authorities work to ensure the safety of those still under the threat,” said Bush, dispatching a team of FBI agents to aid the investigation.  An unnamed U.S. counterterrorism official cautioned against jumping to conclusions, believing the attacks were consistent with prior attacks by  Kashmir separatists.  “Some of the signatures of the attacks” seemed similar to militants from the Kashmir region.  Whether that’s true or not, doesn’t minimize the necessity of a full-fledged U.S-Pakistani.effort to terminate Bin Laden’s command.

            Recent intelligence “chatter” raises the terror threat level in New York City, where Pennsylvania Station has been fingered as a possible target.  Whether or not the Mumbai massacre had any links to Bin Laden, the U.S. can no longer sit idly by while Bin Laden and his chief lieutenant Ayman al-Zawahri record their next videos or plot the next terror attack.  While the U.S. signed a new security deal Nov. 17 with Iraq specifying Dec. 31, 2011 as a date-certain for withdrawal, Obama must move swiftly on his own exit strategy.  Mumbai reminds the new president that Iraq’s misplaced priorities have left the U.S. and its allies more vulnerable.  “Americans are still at risk on the ground,” said the State Department, warning U.S. citizens to stay away from Mumbai until at least the weekend.  Terrorists specifically targeted U.S. and British nationals, before attacking the Chabad Jewish center.

            Pakistan’s new government, headed by Presient Assif Ali Zardari, the widower of the assassinated Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, has no tolerance for terrorism.  He’s helped coordinate U.S. predator drone attacks against suspected al-Qaida and Taliban targets inside Pakistan.  His predecessor, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, a once close ally of President George W. Bush, gave Islamic terrorists free reign inside Pakistan’s tribal territories.  Zardari watched his wife assassinated Dec. 28, 2007 by the same thugs responsible for the Mumbai massacre.  While no one knows yet the exact terrorist group, they share the same ideology and vision as Bin Laden.  Murdering Brooklyn-based Chabab Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg and his wife Rivka at Mumbai’s Jewish Center suggest the same radicals responsible for beheading Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.     

            Mumbai should remind President-elect Barack Obama that there can be no delay when it comes to ending Iraq and finishing the job in Afghanistan.  Whether or not the Mumbai terrorists turn out to be connected to Bin Laden, they’re from the same ilk, targeting innocent civilians to advance their agenda.  Pakistan’s U.S. ambassador Hussain Haqqani confirmed his government’s commitment to “confronting the menace of terrorism with great vigor,” signaling the Zardari government plans to work to stamp out terrorism in Pakistan with the new U.S. president.  “It’s unfair to blame Pakistan or Pakistanis for these acts of terrorism even before an investigation is undertaken,” said Haqqani.  Mumbai should remind the Pakistani government they must partner with the U.S. to eradicate terror along the Afghan border.   Destroying what’s left of al-Qaida and  the Taliban is a top priority.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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