Mumbai Attacks - III

continued from here. My take on the most important W of all - WHY?

A lot has been said. A lot more will be said, done and undone. But this shall go down in the annals of Indian and world history as one of the most successful terrorist operation ever executed by the terrorists. They have won, this once. Let us be gracious in acceding defeat, this once. But let us firmly resolve to buttress this grace into a ricochet movement so massive that it effaces out the entire terror ecosystem. I would be more than happy to empty a full 30 rounds magazine up the terrorist's arse and another 30 down his throat as insurance to the previous 30, but that only John Rambo can do. And he does not exist.

If I attempt to envisage the charter or the vision document behind these attacks, it would roughly constitute the following directives -

1. Rekindle Kashmir issue by derailing the quasi warm relations between India and Pakistan

2. Debilitate Pakistan's attempt towards moderation by adopting a democratic framework

3. Support the Taliban in Afghanistan

4. Spread fear, panic among Indians by maximum destruction of life and property

5. Fight and kill westerners specifically US, UK and Israel

6. Garner worldwide attention and media share of voice

I think they have scored a perfect 10 with their 10 fidayeens. If we carefully retrospect, all the above 6 broad objectives have been met except probably no. 3 (which is a larger game plan, my surmise being its a corollary of achieving points 1 and 2) Whoever is behind this heinous, inhumane, barbaric act has succeeded in killing three or four birds with one stone. India and Pakistan are at loggerheads again (point 1 achieved). There is complete chaos in already chaotic Pakistan. Religious fundamentalists are playing demagogues to the people who want to hear that their country has absolutely nothing to do with all this. (point 2 achieved). A threat of Indian military response would be enough fodder for Pakistan to mobilize its troops away from the western border to its eastern border (point 3 achieved). I dont think there is any clarity required on how point 4 has been achieved!. Picking foreign targets and attacking the Chabad House (point 5 achieved). My earlier post shows the number of stories on Google News (point 6 achieved)

So that is my understanding of the 'Why was Mumbai attacked like this?'. I am off course looking at more debate and thoughts on this. I personally feel before anything, we should all first understand the problem. Sacking ministers, overhauling national security, amending constituition, firing radar guided missiles at Muridke may/may not follow. In fact, I shall now move to the more complicated task of framing my wish list on 'What needs to be done now'. Next post by weekend.

Live and Let Live