Mumbai assessment

[Rockstar]

Assessment:

It is obvious that the raid had the support and assistance of Pakistan’s ISI security services. The ISI is filled with covert supporters of either the Taliban or Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda. Until Pakistan’s overnight ‘conversion’ in 2003, the ISI was the Taliban’s liaison with the Pakistani government. The ISI supplied money, materiel, recruits and training to both al-Qaeda and the Taliban dating back to the 1980’s. But it is just as obvious that Pakistan didn’t plan to invade and capture Bombay with just ten guys. The raid on Bombay didn’t provide Pakistan or the ISI with anything of strategic value — just the satisfaction of inflicting harm on a hated enemy. But what it provided to al-Qaeda was invaluable. Bombay is India’s New York City. Some of the terrorists were already inside the harbor city; the rest infiltrated by boat with additional weapons and explosives. The terrorists were undoubtedly al-Qaeda affliates; their tactics were mujahadeen tactics; fight to the death inflicting as much damage as possible in the process. Their chosen victims were Westerners — particularly Americans - and Jews. During the campaign, Senator Joe Biden hinted darkly at a ‘test’ that will present itself to the Obama administration within six months of his taking office. Homeland Security is as prepared as it can be for attacks using airliners, dirty bombs, nuclear materials, etc.

But Mumbai, a city twice the size of New York City, was paralyzed by ten determined young men armed with nothing but small arms and field explosives for more than sixty hours. Why Mumbai? To see if it would work. Ten guys paralyzed the city for sixty hours and killed or wounded more than four hundred people. It was a tactical success. On January 20th, 2009, thousands upon thousands of people will be crowded into coastal Washington D.C. to attend the Obama inaugural.

Please join me in prayer that America’s defenders learned as much from the Mumbai massacre as America’s enemies did.