Mumbai, 9/11, Lashkar e Taiba, Al Qaeda, and Lessons (Not?) Learned

It's already tomorrow (December 1, 2008) in India. Mumbai is cleaning up after a terrible attack. The death toll is heading in the direction of 200. The last I heard, bodies were still being carried out of the Taj Mahal hotel.

Right now, it looks like either a group based in Pakistan, or Al Qaeda, are responsible. Maybe both.

Or, maybe neither. I'd say it's too early to tell.

I think Indian government officials could learn from what American authorities experienced, while investigating what happened in the 9/11 attack: and who was responsible.

Indian Investigators Sorting Out Evidence

The surviving terrorist said that he had been told to 'kill until the last breath'. (MailOnline (November 30, 2008)) Indian authorities say his name is Azam Amir Kasab, that he's 21, and from Pakistan.


(from MailOnline, used without permission)
Mighty Muslim? Holy Hindu? Patriotic Pakistani?
Bottom line: He's alive, lots of others are dead.

I sincerely wish that more of the ten terrorists in the Mumbai attack were still alive. Partly because I value life, partly because survivors are generally more informative than corpses.

Mumbai, Blame, India, and Pakistan

International diplomacy is proceeding normally: India says that the terrorists came from Pakistan; Pakistan's leaders say 'we didn't do it!' And, that Pakistan may move troops from the Afghanistan border to the Indian border.

Which may be a good thing. That way, coalition forces may only have Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and local sympathizers shooting at them. Pakistani forces may or may not have been ordered to shoot Americans trying to deal with terrorists in the wrong places.

I don't blame Pakistan's leaders for being a bit touchy on the subject of providing a base of operations for whoever killed over ten dozen people in Mumbai. Between differences of opinion about whether or not Pakistani troops have been ordered to shoot American soldiers who are trying to protect Pakistan, and the odd coincidences surrounding Benazir Bhutto's assassination, I get the impression that Pakistan is somewhere between India and Somalia in terms of having a stable, competent, government.

Why Blame Pakistan or Al Qaeda?

It's not that there aren't non-Islamic terrorists.

Hindu terrorists (or activists, or whatever) tend to tear down mosques or burn people. (Remember the Babri Mosque, back in 1992?); or the missionary flambe incident in 1999?)

Forming mobs or planting bombs seems to be their style: not putting together a well-planned military operation like the Mumbai incident.

Members of India's many ethnic minorities who think that their people should have their very own little independent territory, and that it's okay to kill other people to get what they want. (India isn't the only country with terrorists within its borders. America's Timothy McVeigh wasn't the only person in the country willing to kill those don't have the 'right' ethnicity and/or beliefs.)

But India's separatists, like the National Socialist Council of Nagaland, don't seem quite up to planning and executing the recent attack on Mumbai. (The NSCN., or National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Khaplang-Kitovi), or Isak-Muivah, or KK, says it isn't a separatist movement: that the territory it wants was never part of India. I give them points for ingenuity, if nothing else.)

All of which narrows the field.

Pakistan's military or intelligence organizations might have mounted the attack: Pakistan and India both want Kashmir. Besides, Pakistan is a predominantly Muslim country, India is predominantly Hindu: It's easy to assume that Pakistan's government is behind the attack.

Maybe they were.

But the attack is very much Al Qaeda's style:

• Big
• Well-planned
• Indiscriminately lethal
• Very high-profile

It's quite easy to assume that Al Qaeda is responsible.

LeT, Lashkar e Taiba, Lashkar e-Tayyiba: Trouble, No Matter How It's Spelled

It may not be Al Qaeda, though. The one surviving terrorist says that he's with Lashkar e Taiba, or LeT.

LeT is a group that operates in Pakistan. And, as is often the case, has a name that's spelled quite a few different ways in English:

• LeT
• Lashkar-e-Taiba
• Lashkar e-Tayyiba

Just to make things more interesting, Lashkar e Taiba is also called

• LT
• Jamaat ud-Dawa and Al Monsooreen
• Lashkar e-Toiba1, Lashkar-i-Taiba
• Paasban-e-Ahle-Hadis
• Paasban-e-Kashmir
• Paasban-i-Ahle-Hadith
• Pasban-e-Kashmir

No matter how it's spelled, or what it's called, the group is trouble. This "Army of the Pure and Righteous" is on the American State Department's list of terrorist organizations; is supported by Al Qaeda; gets money from Pakistani communities in the United Kingdom and the Persian Gulf region, and from Islamic Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). It's been banned in Pakistan since 2002.

But, since LeT's goal is to kick India out of Kashmir, there's the suspicion that Pakistan's government, that wants Kashmir, pretends it doesn't notice LeT installations in Pakistan.

In fact, in India at least, it's assumed that "the LeT has been a 100% owned subsidiary of the ISI's anti-India operations." (Times of India, December 1, 2008) (ISI stands for Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, or Inter-Services Intelligence. (thefreedictionary.com))

Unlike Al Qaeda, LeT tends to use heavy infantry, not suicide bombers.

Since the attack on Mumbai was essentially an infantry operation, and since there don't seem to be reports of beheadings, this looks like it might not be an Al Qaeda operation. And, that it might be something Lashkar e Taiba planned.

And, the survivor says that he and the others were trained by LeT. Of course, he could be lying.

Even if Lashkar e Taiba is responsible for the attacks, that doesn't mean that Pakistan's current government - the one that got elected after Bhuto was assassinated - is behind the Mumbai massacre. LeT probably is supported by, or politely ignored by, the ISI, but the civilian government doesn't control the ISI, and neither does Pakistan's military. "The ISI has become a state within a state, answerable neither to the leadership of the army, nor to the President or the Prime Minister." (globalsecurity.org) Sounds like the ISI is like the die-hard American liberal's view of the CIA.

Mumbai and 9/11: Something to be Learned

It could be that 'the usual suspects' are behind the latest Mumbai attack. Or, some group other than Lashkar e Taiba or Al Qaeda may be to blame.

It's too early to tell.

The last I heard, Indian authorities were still taking bodies out of the Taj Mahal hotel. The last terrorists were killed this weekend. It looks like this attack took a year to plan: it will probably take a few days, at least, to put all the pieces together.

Let's remember the 9/11 attack, and the days following it.

• By the afternoon of September 11, 2001, there were strong indications that "Saudi militant Osama bin Laden" was behind the attack
• Lots of Saudi Nationals left America, after
  • National airspace re-opened on September 13, 2001
  • Being checked by the FBI
• All but four of the hijackers were from Saudi Arabia
  • At least, they had the names of Saudi nationals

Apparently, though, the Saudi government didn't have anything to do with the 9/11 attack. Although, considering the antics of Saudi clerics - some of them in official positions - it's still easy enough to imagine Saudi involvement.

But, imagination and reality aren't the same thing.

Related posts:

• " 'India's 9/11' - Who Did It?"
  (November 28, 2008)
• "Why Attack Mumbai? And, Why the Taj Mahal Hotel?"
  (November 27, 2008)
• "Gateway of India? Taj Mahal Hotel - in Mumbai? What - and Where - Are These Places?"
  (November 27, 2008)
• Bad Night in Mumbai: Islamic Terrorists This Time"
  (November 26, 2008)
• "Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Foreign Troops: One Issue, Two Approaches"
  (September 16, 2008)

News and views:

• "India in fix over how to handle Pak"
  The Times of India (December 1, 2008)
• "Indian minister resigns over Mumbai attacks"
  CNN (November 30, 2008)
• "Mumbai attacks: surviving terrorist says he belonged to Pakistan militant group "
  Telegraph.co.uk (November 30, 2008)
• "Pakistanis Deny Any Role in Attacks"
  The New York Times (November 30, 2008)
• "Top Indian Security Official Resigns as Toll Eclipses 180"
  The New York Times (November 30, 2008)
• "Indian minister resigns over Mumbai attacks "
  CNN (November 30, 2008)
• "Attackers expose luxury hotels' vulnerabilities"
  International Herald Tribune (November 30, 2008)
• "Pakistan pledges to look into any militant role in Mumbai attacks"
  Los Angeles Times (November 30, 2008)
• "Officials quit over India attacks"
  BBC (November 30, 2008)
• " 'I was told to kill to my last breath': Captured terrorist's account of Mumbai massacre reveals plan was to kill 5,000 "
  MailOnline (November 30, 2008)
• " 'No evidence' of UK Mumbai link"
  BBC (November 30, 2008)
• "Terror blasts hole in peace with Pakistan"
  TimesOnline (UK (November 30, 2008)
• " 'Terrorists planned to kill 5,000 in Mumbai attacks' "
  The Hindu (November 30, 2008)
• "Taj Mahal hotel chairman: We had warning"
  CNN (November 29, 2008)
• "We're all Bombayites today"
  Hindustan Times (November 29, 2008)
  • "...Nobody blamed George Bush for 9/11...." ?!
    Vir Sanghvi apparently doesn't follow American news all that closely.
• "Officials quit over India attacks"
  BBC (November 29, 2008)
• "Indian media react to Mumbai carnage"
  CNN (November 29, 2008)
• "Westerners, Asians from all walks of life among Mumbai victims"
  CNN (November 29, 2008)
• "What They Hate About Mumbai"
  The New York Times (November 28, 2008)
• "Mumbai terror attacks: Who could be behind them?"
  guardian.co.uk (November 27, 2008)
• "Polarisation route to power nirvana"
  Central Chronicle (November 27, 2008)
• "CORRECTED-India police arrest Hindu monk over bomb attack"
  Reuters (November 13, 2008)
• "Next hearing in Babri mosque demolition case on July 11th"
  Thaindian News (July 4, 2008)
• "Orissa Christians told to 'convert or die' "
  Christian Today (January 25, 2008)
• "Hindus attack churches on Christmas"
  USA Today (December 26, 2007)
  • It was the Christians' fault, a Hindu spokesperson said.
  • The Christians, he said, wanted to attack an 80-year-old man.
• "Graham Staines murder case: Chronology of events"
  rediff.com (September 22, 2003)
• "1992: Mob rips apart mosque in Ayodhya"
  BBC's ('On This Date' for December 6)

Background:

• "Lashkar e-Tayyiba"
  globalsecurity.org
• "Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence [ISI]"
  globalsecurity.org
• "Flights of Saudi Nationals Leaving the United States"
  factcheck.org (PDF file)
• "Furious Saudis reject US 9/11 claims"
  guardian.co.uk (July 25, 2003)