Indian Commandos Launch Multiple Operations. 
The legendary Black Cats, the National Security Guard commandos of the Indian forces, called NSG, finally launched the rescue efforts at the three hostage locations in Mumbai at
daylight on Friday 28 November Mumbai time. This is said to be an NSG nightmare scenario, with multiple hostage event scenes across a vast, not secured city. Also significant is that the counter strikes are launching in full daylight, not using the night to cover the approach. Why the long delay from news of the assault on the evening of Wednesday 26 to the counter strikes thirty-six hours later? Unconfirmed reports that the NSG was delayed at Delhi by VIPs. Also unconfirmed reports that NSG was delayed by transportation from Mumbai airport to the hostage scenes. Following again on TV 18 Mumbai live in English and in Urdu (separate feeds and images) and from Shloky Vaidya's Twitter report. The TV 18 readers are repeating continually now that the attackers are linked to LeT, the Lashkar-e-Taiba (Army of the Good)
terror gang operating out of Kashmir camps funded by Pakistan's ISI. Also the readers are routinely mentioning "a very clear foreign hand." (Updating the TV 18 speculations that the attackers are LeT trained in camps at Peshawar and Lahore; that the attackers used a local safe house where accomplices purchased supplies days ahead; that some of the attackers have already escaped the net.) The NSG assaults are Bollywod plus, using helicopter insertions, flashbang grenades, snipers. The three sites are the Taj Hotel, the Oderoi Hotel, and the Nariman House. Again, what is significant here is that the Nariman House is a non-descript five-story house in Colaba, a posh neighborhood in South Mumbai. TV 18 is now reporting that the rabbi and his wife at Nariman (Chabad) House, Gabriel and Rivka Holtzberg, are dead. Several other hostages have escaped from Nariman House. The NSG came in very low to the Nariman House. The nightmare scenario for the NSG includes taking the risk that the attackers do not carry RPGs as the far less sophisticated killers did at Mogadishu in 1993.
What Kind of Nightmare?
At South Asia Analysis Group, Swati Parashar, a colleague of B. Raman, observes that the
Mumbai assault means that a handful of disciplined killers can paralyze the Indian state's most powerful city and wreck the morale and confidence of the Indian state. She also mentions that if this does prove to be an operation launched from Pakistan -- and there are many fresh clues -- then the Indian state has been rocked by a well-known rival. However there is hesitation here, because Ms. Parashar argues also that the Mumbai attacks looks to be an end in themselves. Not for Pakistan. Not for a spoken goal of revenge for the Gujarat riots in 2002 or the destruction of the Babri Masjid Temple two decades ago. Just rage and mayhem and mass murder for no end. Yes, the effect will be to weaken the state, to drive it to fear and despair, but that is an indifference to the killers. These are not state actors. These are pure homicides who regard the innocent as aliens. They kill innocence to kill innocence. The nightmare scenario is that India will come to believe that the Mumbai nightmare is normal and acceptable and deserved. A global financial center stunned, frozen, undone by four dozen killers and accomplices who intend to keep killing until they are killed. Ms. Parashar closes her monograph with the Urdu words of the Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz:
Rakht-e-dil baaNdh lo dil figaaro chalo
Phir hameeN qatl ho aa.eN yaaro chalo
Pick up the burden of the heart, let us go heartbroken ones;
We are the ones to be murdered my friends!!
(1)
Unconfirmed reporting on why the three police chiefs died on the first night, all at the same time:
"Karkare, Kamte, Salaskar may have been alive had they taken different cars, says sole witness to the killings
November 26, 2008. Perhaps, the saddest day in the history of the police force. Three of its finest officers were killed in the terror attacks launched on the city on Wednesday. Joint commissioner of police and chief of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) Hemant Karkare, additional commissioner of police Ashok Kamte and encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar lost their lives fighting the terrorists.
A constable told DNA the sequence of events that led to the three super cops being killed - all at the same time. According to him, they made a fatal mistake by boarding the same car.
Karkare, Kamte and Salaskar were all stationed outside the CST after news came in of indiscriminate firing at the busy railway station, said the constable. Soon, there was another report of two terrorists having fled from the station and barging into Madam Cama hospital behind the BMC headquarters.
All three officers decided to rush to Cama hospital. They piled into a Toyota Qualis, belonging to ACP Bhalerao, and made a dash for the hospital. Just as the vehicle reached the rear premises of the hospital, the two terrorists came running out. Seeing the approaching Qualis, they fired on it with their AK47 rifles. The officers did not have any time to react and were instantly felled by multiple bullet hits...."
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1209487
Producer Lee Mason sends along this smart blog, and I include the latest list of casualties:
http://mumbaihelp.blogspot.com/
"The injured and the dead
Sorted from the spreadsheet posted earlier, which was in turn transcribed (by Shivmeet Deol, Rahul Nambiar, Kalapi Gajjar, Lisa Goldman, Noelita Coelho, Sameer Gharat - thank you, you sweet people) from the scans of the faxed lists posted by n (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). We spotted many duplicates in the list, so please don't regard it as authoritative. This list has been typed from an fax, where some information was not clear, so there may be transcription errors.
These people have been listed as dead:
Name Age M/F Hospital
Amina Hamid Shaikh 25 F St. George
Arun Chitale (Police) - M GT
Ashok Shivram Poulke - M JJ
Aziz Nabilath Ramkhure 55 M St. George
Bhagan Shinde - M GT
Bred Gilbert Taylor (Australian) 49 M St. George
Fakir Mohammad 68 M JJ
Goutam 30 M JJ
Haji Izaz Bhai 39 M St. George
Jasmin - F GT
Jurgem Hetraz Rudalf 68 M St. George
Mastan Qureshi 45 M JJ
Meera Jattherjee 64 F St. George
Michael Stert (Australian) 73 M St. George
Mishralal Morya 40 M St. George
Mukesh Bhikaji 23 M St. George
P Gopalkrishna - M GT
Prabhukumar Lal - M JJ
Prakash More (Police) - M GT
Reema Sheikh 35 F JJ
Sanjay S. Surve - M GT
Shankar Gupta 30 M GT
Shashank Shinde 48 M St. George
Shirish Chavla Charo 44 M St. George
Sitaram Mallapa Sakhre 40 M St. George
Sohel Ahmed Shaikh 30 M St. George
Studdar Daphne (Australian) 50 F St. George
Sushant Patil 40 M JJ
Thakur Budha Waghela - M GT
Uttam - M JJ
Vijay Katkar (Police) - M GT
Vijay Salasker (Police) - M GT
Wilson Mandip (GRP) 35 M JJ
Unknown - M Nair
Unknown - M Nair
Unknown 45 M Cooper
Unknown 40 M Cooper
Unknown 40 M Cooper
Unknown 30 F JJ
Unknown 40 M JJ
Unknown - M Nair
Unknown - M Nair
Unknown 45 M Cooper
Unknown 40 M Cooper
Unknown 40 M Cooper
These are the injured
Name Age M/F Hospital
A.B. More - M Mumbai
Abdul Rashid 40 M JJ
Abdul Rashid 40 M JJ
Abdul Razak 22 M JJ
Abdul Razak 22 M JJ
Abdul Salam 50 M JJ
Abdul Salam 50 M JJ
Abdul Sheikh Sohel 5 M JJ
Abdul Sheikh Sohel 5 M JJ
Adhikrao Kale 38 M JJ
Adhikrao Kale 38 M JJ
Afroj Abbas Ansar - M St. George
Afroj Abbas Ansari 30 M JJ
Ajay V. Korgaonkar 47 M GT
Ajhmal Ali 63 M GT
Akhilesh 22 M JJ
Akhilesh 22 M JJ
Akshay T. Shinde 32 M GT
Akshay Tanaji Supekar 11 M JJ
Alok Gupta 25 M JJ
Anamika Gupta - F St. George
Anand Arjungi 30 M JJ
Anand Arjungi 30 M JJ
Anantlal J. - M St. George
Anil Mahadev Nirmal 25 M JJ
Anil Nitram(Nirmal) 38 M GT
Anil Sakharam Varal 30 M JJ
Anilkumar Danojee Hakudkar 39 M JJ
Annasaheb A. Waghamode 19 M JJ
Annasaheb A. Waghamode 19 M JJ
Ansar Allahbaksh - M GT
Arvind Bhalekar - M KEM
Arvind Bhalekar - M KEM
Asha Borade 36 F JJ
Ashabai Shribal Baradi - F St. George
Ashok Babu (Unclear) Sunappa 85(Unclear) M JJ
Ashok Patil 49 M JJ
Ashok Patil 49 M JJ
Ashokkumar 18 M JJ
Ashokkumar 18 M JJ
Asif Babubhai Menan (Unclear) - M JJ
Asif Mohamad 26 M JJ
Asif Mohamad 26 M JJ
Baby Yadav - F St. George
Bajrandi 30 F JJ
Balaji Baburao Khatmole 53 M JJ
Balkrushna R. Bare 40 M Cooper
Balkrushna R. Bare 40 M Cooper
Bebl Ashok Yadav 26 F JJ
Betty Alafoso 58 F JJ
Bharat Bhosale - M St. George
Bharat Koshti 17 M GT
Bharat R Bhosle 53 M JJ
Bharat Satu Prasad 32 M JJ
Bharat Shyam Naodiya 20 M JJ
Chandrakant Dike - M KEM
Chandrakant Dike - M KEM
Chandrakant Lokhande 60 M JJ
Chandrakant Lokhande 60 M JJ
Dadarao Jadhav 27 M JJ
Dadarao Jadhav 27 M JJ
Devika Natvarlal Rotwan - M St. George
Devika Natwarlal Rotawan 10 F JJ
Dilsad B. Ismail Patekar 40 F JJ
Dilsad B. Ismail Patekar 40 F JJ
Dilshad Ismail Dulai - F St. George
Ebran S. Bhagwab 29 M JJ
Ebran S. Bhagwab 29 M JJ
Farookh N. Khaliluddin 53 M JJ
Farookh N. Khaliluddin 53 M JJ
Fhakir Mohamad 38 M JJ
Fhakir Mohamad 38 M JJ
Fhiroz Khan 44 M JJ
Fhiroz Khan 44 M JJ
Ganpat G Shigvan - M JJ
Giriraj Louis 40 M JJ
Gopal Prajapati - M St. George
H.K. Asif 22 M Nair
H.K. Asif 22 M Nair
Habibul Raheman Khan 30 M JJ
Hanish Patel (British) 29 M JJ
Harshada Harkulkar 20 F GT
Haseena Sheikh 20 F JJ
Haseena Sheikh 20 F JJ
Heena Sheikh 16 F JJ
Heena Sheikh 16 F JJ
Hemant Karkare 50 M JJ
Hemant Pravin - M GT
Hemant Shadulkar 22 M JJ
Hemant Shadulkar 22 M JJ
Ibrahim Abdul Rehman 40 M JJ
Izaz Abdulla 20 M GT
Jairam Chouhan 28 M JJ
Jatin Matin - M St. George
Kailas G. Dani 41 M GT
Kale - M JJ
Kalpanath Singh 35 M GT
Kanya Shahane 24 M JJ
Kanya Shahane 24 M JJ
Lalji Pande 54 M JJ
Lalji Pandey - M St. George
Laxman Shivaji Undekar 25 M JJ
Laxman Shivaji Undekar 25 M JJ
Mahadev Petkar 30 M JJ
Mahadev Petkar 30 M JJ
Maltidevi Madan Gupta 62 F JJ
Maltidevi Madan Gupta 62 F JJ
Manoj Kanojia 36 M JJ
Manoj Kanojia 36 M JJ
Manoj Thakur 27 M JJ
Manoj Thakur 27 M JJ
Manora Begam 46 F JJ
Manora Begam 46 F JJ
Manwara Alishekh 60 F JJ
Maruti Fad 32 M GT
Minakshi Dantashi - F St. George
Minakshi Sada Dani 21 F JJ
Miraj Alam 24 M JJ
Mohammad Farvez Aslam 27 M JJ
Mohammed M. Ansari 19 M Nair
Mohammed M. Ansari 19 M Nair
Mohan Bharati 37 M JJ
Mohan Shinde 40 M JJ
Mohan Shinde 40 M JJ
Mohd Ayub Ansari 21 M JJ
Mohd. Siddique 29 M JJ
Mohd. Siddique 29 M JJ
Muktar Sheikh 35 M JJ
Muktar Sheikh 35 M JJ
Mumtaj Khan 28 M JJ
Murlidhar - M Mumbai
Nafhisa Sadaf Qureshi 48 F JJ
Nafhisa Sadaf Qureshi 48 F JJ
Naresh Jumani - M GT
Nathuni Yadav 42 M JJ
Nathuni Yadav 42 M JJ
Neeta Khurade 20 F GT
Nibma Shyampuri Gosavi 40 M JJ
Nibma Shyampuri Gosavi 40 M JJ
Nilesh Gandhi 43 M GT
Niranjan Sadashiv Sardar 70 M JJ
Nirmala Ponnadurai 30 F JJ
Nivruthi B. Gawane 57 M JJ
Nivruthi B. Gawane 57 M JJ
Pappukumar Laldev 20 M JJ
Pappukumar Laldev 20 M JJ
Pappukumar Laldi - M St. George
Poonam Santosh Singh - F St. George
Prabhukumar Laldev 21 M JJ
Prabhukumar Laldev 21 M JJ
Prakash Bhagvani 38 M GT
Prakash Surve 65 M GT
Prashant 40 M JJ
Priyanka Chitaranjan Giri 25 F JJ
Priyanka Chitaranjan Giri 25 F JJ
Puppu Singh 22 M GT
Raheman Ali Sheikh 17 M JJ
Rajan Ishwar Kamble 50 M JJ
Rajan Sharif 23 M JJ
Rajan Sharif 23 M JJ
Rajendra Prasad 20 M JJ
Rajendra Prasad 20 M JJ
Raju Pandurang Mane 35 M JJ
Ramachandran Nair 25 M JJ
Ramchandra Morya 40 M JJ
Ramchandra Morya 40 M JJ
Ramesh Chervotu 41 M JJ
Ramjivan Napti - M St. George
Rasika Krushma Sawant 22 F JJ
Rasika Sawant - F St. George
Ravi Ranjangiri 26 M JJ
Ravi Ranjangiri 26 M JJ
Rekha Rathod 30 F JJ
S.H.Wardhankar - M KEM
S.H.Wardhankar - M KEM
Sachin Singh - M St. George
Sachin Tilekar - M Mumbai
Sadanand Date - M KEM
Sadanand Date - M KEM
Sajid Ashraphi - M Mumbai
Samdhan More 22 M JJ
Sanjay L Katar 23 M JJ
Sanjay Yadav 25 M JJ
Sanju Husain Ghorpade 15 M JJ
Sanju Husain Ghorpade 15 M JJ
Santosh Dattaram Veer 32 M JJ
Santosh Kanojia 31 M JJ
Santosh Yadav 23 M JJ
Santosh Yadav 23 M JJ
Sarika Kripashankar Upadhyay - F St. George
Sarika Upadhyay 30 F JJ
Sarita Harkulkar 35 F GT
Satyanand Behara 25 M JJ
Sawnath Chemburkar 46 M JJ
Sawnath Chemburkar 46 M JJ
Shabbir A. Salam Dalal 52 M JJ
Shabbir A. Salam Dalal 52 M JJ
Shabira Majid Shaikh 40 F JJ
Shabira Majid Shaikh 40 F JJ
Shaiwananth Chandulkar - M JJ
Shital Yadav 24 F JJ
Shivchandra Patil - M St. George
Shivram Sawant 18 M JJ
Shubhangi Rahekar - F St. George
Shweta Yadav 4 months F JJ
Shyamsundar Choudhari 45 M Cooper
Shyamsundar Choudhari 45 M Cooper
Siddhiki Sheikh 35 M JJ
Siddhiki Sheikh 35 M JJ
Sourabh Mishra 29 M JJ
Sudam Pandarkar - M St. George
Sulochana Lokhande 50 F JJ
Sunita Upendra Jadhav - F St. George
Surendrakumar Kanojia 30 M JJ
Suryabhan Gupta 42 M JJ
Suryabhan Gupta 42 M JJ
Suryakant Gaikwad - M KEM
Suryakant Gaikwad - M KEM
Sushant Panda 22 M JJ
Sushant Panda 22 M JJ
Sushant Patil 38 M JJ
Sushant Patil 38 M JJ
Tayan Merappy - F St. George
Tejas Anand Anungi - M St. George
Tejas Arjungi 3 M JJ
Tejas Arjungi 3 M JJ
Uguarinni 62 F JJ
Utsala Kurahde - F JJ
Uttam Sasurkar 20 M JJ
Uttam Sasurkar 20 M JJ
Vatsala Kurade (unclear) 6 F JJ
Vibha Singh 39 F JJ
Vibha Singh - F St. George
Vijay (Unclear) 30 M JJ
Vijay R. Khot 52 M JJ
Vishweshwar Shuspal Pacharme 22 M JJ
Unknown 40 M JJ
Unknown 60 M JJ
Unknown 35 M JJ
Unknown 25 M JJ
Unknown - M St. George
Unknown - M St. George
unknown - M St. George
POSTED BY ZIGZACKLY AT 11:30 PM 1 COMMENTS
Just one additional thought regarding the massacres in Mumbai: It was (initially) stealth that made this pogrom possible. The attackers did not come waving flags; they did not come in uniforms; their declaration of war remained unannounced. As such, the doormen at the Taj and Oberoi welcomed them as honored guests.
Here in America too, the operatives are already in place. They look like you and me. They do what we do. They are politicians, commentators, industrialists, bankers, philanthropists, university professors, etc. They are too conscious of their fine fingernails to take down buildings brick by brick; they are too squeamish to plunge the knife or throw the bomb. They are too self-satisfied to risk their own demise in missions involving suicide. They are too atheist to feel empathy for anything beyond ideology.
We invite them into our living rooms. We elect them to office. We give to their charities. While we choose to remain in the dark with regard to their true intentions, hypnotized by the deviant core that animates their charm, they manage to steal our liberties, our possessions, our traditions (and whatever else that would sustain us in difficult times). They mock our defenses and we laugh, eager to display our tolerant bent. (What, me worry?) They marginalize those charged with protecting us. Those crying in the wilderness are silenced. And thus the way is paved to our own demise.
By count, the USA lost at least four citizens in this attack (two tourists and two at the Jewish Center). This whole event is a nightmare. And the US news media (newsweek) puts out an article on how bad the muslims have it in India...wow. I see the USA drifting towards our enemies and away from our friends. Death and suffering will be the result.
...re the guerilla attack on Mumbai beginning Wednesday 26 at approximately 2100 hours Mumbai time; the evidence so far pointing to multiple sources for the attackers, who may have been trained at ISI run camps near Peshawar and Lahore: attackers may include Britons, Pakistanis, Kashmiris, Heyderabad Indians, possibly East Africans from Mauritius: evidence also points to long planing for the operation that was launched from sea to land-based safe houses. Multiple dry runs beforehand. The attack resembles the spectacular planned by Chechen guerillas against the G8 meeting at Petersburg in July 2008. Re the evidence of fastitdious planning and accurate intelligence by attackers.
Unconfirmed report from best signals source that two of the KIA at the Taj were American intelligence ops.
Mr B-
I remember a contributor to your show who would report on the incorporation of "child soldiers" by rebels in various places around the world.
Is he still researching this?
Just saw a television report on Indian TV saying that there is growing evidence at least some of the attackers were affiliated with a Hindu rightist group called the Sangh Parivar.
Some are calling it post-modern terror. Fascists of different religions colluding together to instill fear and division.
Mumbaikars are standing up to the hatred though. We shall overcome.