EDWARD LUTTWAK
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081202.wcoindia03/BNStory/specialComment/
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
December 2, 2008 at 11:32 PM EST
India really is a democratic country. Hence the prompt resignation of the country's top security official, home minister Shivraj Patil, in the wake of the Mumbai attacks. In his statement, Mr. Patil said he was assuming "ministerial" - formal, not substantive - responsibility. He should have said nothing at all: Since he assumed his post in 2004, some 7,000 people have been killed by terrorists in India without generating any known response by his ministry.
The Indian reality is that local police cannot be expected to react usefully to a terrorist attack - or, indeed, to any form of armed attack - as police might do in other countries (by at least sealing off the area, for example, and calling for more help). Local police hardly ever try to stop interreligious or intercaste violence and are very reluctant to engage anyone with a firearm; they are semi-illiterate constables who deal only with petty crime as they make their rounds, drinking free tea in cafés and accepting small gifts from shopkeepers for chasing away beggars.
The death of 7,000 people in terrorist incidents since 2004 - mostly inflicted by Muslim extremists - obviously called for the formation of a better-trained, better-paid, national anti-terrorist police. But none was created. Thus the forces available to fight the Mumbai terrorists were pathetically inadequate in quantity or quality.
That was true of Mumbai's anti-terrorist squad: It could move into action immediately but had a total of only 35 officers with fewer than 15 on duty; its commander was one of the first casualties. By contrast, the National Security Guards are military-style commandos but with no real experience in rescuing hostages in a civilian environment, even though that's one of their official missions. With 7,500 men, they could at least have responded in a military fashion, but there was no chance of that because of another kind of inadequacy: the decision-making system.
The first attack was reported about 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday. No Home Ministry system alerted the central government, so the call went to the chief minister of the Maharashtra state government. But Vilasrao Deshmukh was in the state of Kerala, hundreds of kilometres to the south. He did nothing of consequence for 90 minutes while receiving calls about the attacks. Finally, at 11 p.m., he called Mr. Patil. Since Mr. Patil had no information of his own, he asked Mr. Deshmukh a key question: How many NSG commandos were needed? Mr. Deshmukh said 200, enough to fight 10 terrorists but grossly inadequate to deal even with one target as big as the Taj hotel, let alone multiple targets. The right number was at least 1,000.
One more inadequacy was that the NSG commandos were concentrated in New Delhi. Worse still, even with news of the mayhem in Mumbai now pouring in, the commandos were not sent to Mumbai in the fastest way possible - by one or two passenger jets that could have been commandeered at the New Delhi airport. Instead, an older and slower Ilyushin Il-76 was summoned from the Chandigarh airport 200 kilometres away; the plane did not arrive in New Delhi until 2 a.m.
By the time the NSG commandos arrived in central Mumbai, it was nearly 10 hours after the first reports of attack. Even then, they had to act with almost no information - not even an accurate floor plan of the Taj hotel - and, of course, in grossly inadequate numbers, given the need to go room by room in a huge structure with an infinity of rooms. As a result, the commandos only arrived at the smallest target, the Chabad house, on Friday morning, more than 40 hours after it was first entered by terrorists. They blew in the street door and, after an interval; other commandos rappelled down from helicopters, in full view of the TV cameras. The commandos were applauded as they left the house after finding everyone dead inside.
All in all, what happened was a confrontation between 10 trained men willing to fight and die, and a hopelessly inadequate security system. But India is, indeed, a democracy with a free press, and what will soon happen after all the usual recriminations will be the creation of a decentralized system backed by information net. By contrast, those who live in Tel Aviv, New York or London need not fear a Mumbai episode. If 10 terrorists were to attack, local police would quickly deal with them.
Edward Luttwak is senior associate at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Congress is a power hungry Destructive party.
Congress to get power made an alliance with Muslim League party who was responsible for partition of Bhaarat. Congress party revived Muslim league party and provided it legitimacy in Bharat.
Politicians are incompetent, illiterate, selfish and corrupt.
To stay in power the congress party has made an illiterate maid Sonia Gandhi as their leader who is foreign origin their leader who can only read written speeches and cannot speak even one sentence at extempore. Sonia cannot speak even one sentence in pure Hindi. Nehru family has adopted Gandhi name by giving false credit for independence to Mohan Gandhi, are making use of the name of Gandhi. All Nehru family Gandhi's are fake.
Hindus should look at themselves first. Why and how foreign origin illiterate Sonia got to where she is? It is because of impotence of Indians who lack backbone and are only concerned with their individual well being. For these politicians Desh bhaad mein jaye which is jaa raha hai.
Anger is at impotent and corrupt politicians who can not defend the public except making speeches and advising public to keep calm when ever there are terrorist attacks.
Billions of dollars are spent on the protection of Sonia Gandhi and her family by commandos. She and her family have been provided Z security. After the murder of Indira Gandhi, lots of money has been spent on the protection of ministers by Commandos. Sonia Antonio is a Italian Christian lady. She wants to convert whole Hindu Bhaarat into Christianity and thus destroy Bhaarat.
After the attack on parliament, other billions have been spent to increase the protection of parliament and members of parliament.
Military and other services are not provided sufficient pay, no proper weapons and ammunitions. Even proper clothes and shoes are not provided to defense forces. There is no central authority that can come into action in a very, very short time. There are no provisions to reward the defense people who die in defending politician and the country. No newspapers or any kind of media give news about dead soldiers and defense members. There is no reward for the dead soldiers. No grant is given to family of dead soldier.
In western countries when a soldier dies, all kinds of media give news about dead soldier.
Canada has sent its soldiers in Afghanistan. Exactly 100 Canadian soldiers have died in Afghanistan. At this occasion practically every paper of Canada has published the photos of 100 dead soldiers in prominent papers on their front pages. But for inept and corrupt and poor qualifications of Bhaaratiya politicians, military, police and defense people are dogs and terrorist people. These defense people are arrested and tortured to prove their secularism and to get votes of minorities.
Anger is at Power hungry politicians who have made an uneducated maid their leader who want to destroy Bhaarat and convert Bhaarat into Christianity.
Politicians are not worried if public or Aam Admi dies as long as they and their families are protected. Politicians are not worried if terrorists or illegal Pakistanis or Bangladeshis come to Bhaarat.
Every time there are terrorist attacks in Bhaarat politicians give advice to public to keep calm, as they being impotent do nothing practical. They are expert in giving speeches and most of the time politicians make Hindus impotent rather than making them militant for the protection themselves and the country. Politicians advise to public:
1. Do not worry about those who have come thru boats...
Our forces can easily defeat them. WORRY about those who have come thru votes.... Those are our REAL ENEMIES....
2. What a shame and disgrace to every citizen of India that the elite NSG Force was transported into ordinary BEST buses, whereas our cricketers are transported into state of the art luxury buses, these Jawans lay down their lives to protect every Indian and these cricketers get paid even if they lose a match, we worship these cricketers and
forget the martyrdom of these brave Jawans. The Jawans should be paid the salaries of the cricketers and the
cricketers should be paid the salaries of the Jawans.
3. An ace shooter shoots and gets gold medal, govt gives 3cr, another shooter dies while shooting terrorist, govt gives 5 lakh. WHO DESERVES MORE? Huh... This is our India....
More than 4000 Hindu men, women and children died in the terrorist blasts in India in the last 4 and half years under UPA headed by a foreigner called Sonia Antonio Maino Gandhi with traitors like M M Singh and communists.
There is complete chaos in Bharat.
There is no Hindu leader with guts to challenge and this is the reason for our present condition.
The so called Hindu leaders are all too timid.
Our writing does not go too far therefore we Hindus must reorganize to show muscle power only then Hindu voice can be noticed.
Chidambaram admits the fault of intelligence and the fault of the government. May be it is time to get rid off this Kitchen Cabinet and get someone with guts as the helm of governing.
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