November 30, 2008
The Wisdom Fund

The Mumbai Terror Attacks: 10 Reasons Why We're Not Ready to Draw Conclusions

by Enver Masud

1 - We don't yet have a clear timeline: what happened, when it happened, who was involved.

2 - On November 28, 2008, the Scotsman reported: "Alex Neill, head of the Royal United Services Institute's Asia security programme, . . . reckons up to 100 terrorists would have been involved in the planning and execution of the attack and said it was surprising they had managed to keep it a secret."

Another British expert stated on CNN on Sunday morning (November 30) that it was not likely that 10 men, could carry out attacks at nine locations, within a period of 30 minutes.

3 - The Deccan Mujahideen are reported to have claimed responsibility for the attacks. "The Lashkar-e-Taiba, not usually shy of claiming its hits, has strongly denied any involvement with the Mumbai attacks."

Others believe that it was the work of either the Sudents Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), or an ad hoc group of militants, or right-wing Hindu groups -- the same groups responsible for the destruction of the Babri Masjid, the pogrom in Gujarat, and the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.

Historian Amaresh Misra, author of the 2000 page, 2 volume, "War of Civilizations: India AD 1857," claims that the right-wing Hindu groups collaborated with Israel's spy agency Mossad.

4 - On August 19, 2008 an American, Kenneth Haywood, who was being investigated last July for "bomb blasts which killed 42 people" in a series of 16 explosions fled India. Some claim that Haywood may have been a CIA asset.

5 - On July 1, 2004, Jane's reported: "India's external intelligence service, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) has launched a major internal investigation for possible moles following the apparent defection of a senior officer recruited by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

"The Indian government fears that the defection of Rabinder Singh, who held the senior rank of joint secretary and who headed the agency's Southeast Asia department, is only the tip of the iceberg in a possible infiltration operation by the CIA and Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence service."

Given the history of false-flag operations, it is not unreasonable to ask if the CIA and/or Mossad may have been involved.

6 - Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare, who led the Mumbai response to the attacks was killed. NDtv, on November 27, 2008, reported: "Karkare had solved the serial bomb blasts in Thane, Vashi and Panvel and was also credited for the stunning revelations in the investigation of the September 29 blast in Malegaon. . . . the Pune ATS on November 26 reportedly received phone calls threatening to blow up the residence of Karkare "within a couple of days".

The death of Karkare, who was said to be investigating Mossad collaboration with right-wing Hindu groups, is suspicious.

7 - On November 29, 2008, Indian Express reported: "The family of slain Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare has declined Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's offer of monetary help".

"Modi is the face of hardline Hindu nationalism. His administration is believed to have instigated some of the worst communal violence in India since the 1947 partition -- the killing of 2,000 Muslims in 2002", according to NPR.

The Karkare family's refusal to accept compensation from the Modi government raises a red flag.

8 - Amir Kasab, Karkares's reported killer, is the only "terrorist" captured alive by Indian authorities, and he (very conveniently) names his fellow "terrorists."

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Kasab is said to have told interrogators during questioning that he and his men were sent specifically to kill Israelis to avenge "atrocities" against the Palestinians.

"Amir Kasab, 21, told investigators that this was why they targeted the Chabad House, also known as the Nariman House in Mumbai, an outreach center meant for local Jews and Jews touring India, including Israelis", according to Haaretz.

9 - The role of Nariman House (aka Chabad House) is puzzling -- it is reported that they ordered enough food to "feed an army or a bunch of people for twenty days." Were the "terrorists" attacking Nariman House, or were they housed there?

10 - Kasab, or another "terrorist," was photographed wearing an orange (safron) band -- a Hindu symbol not likely to be worn by Muslims, on his right wrist.

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Amaresh Misra, "Mumbai Terror Attacks: The Mossad Angle," email, November 27, 2008

[ . . . some media outlets had speculated that New Delhi is being influenced by US pressure to quit the project.--India Seeking to Bolster Ties with Iran," farsnews.com, November 27, 2008]

["They did not look Indian, they looked foreign. One of them, I thought, had blonde hair. The other had a punkish hairstyle. They were neatly dressed," says Mr Amir.--Officials quit over India attacks," BBC News, November 27, 2008]

["Are you aware how many people have been killed in Kashmir? Are you aware how your army has killed Muslims?" he said.--Indian commandos storm Mumbai hotels ," Guardian, November 27, 2008]

[The purpose of this conference was to advocate for the planned Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project which though strongly opposed by the Bush Administration and Pakistan's ISI Intelligence Service, . . .

Reports from India are, indeed, reporting that their Naval Forces have intercepted one of the Pakistani merchant ships stated in these reports to have brought the terrorists behind these attacks to India, and which Russian Intelligence sources are confirming was jointly owned and operated by the ISI and CIA. --"Kissinger-Obama Team Targeted In Horrific India Terror Attack," cherada.com, November 27, 2008]

[Washington and London both agreed with the India's legal claim and removed the longstanding "official protection" accorded for his past services to Western intelligence agencies. U.S. diplomats, however, could never allow Dawood's return. He simply knows too much about America's darker secrets in South Asia and the Gulf, disclosure of which could scuttle U.S.-India relations.--Yoichi Shimatsu, "Dawood - Did Criminal Mastermind Stage Mumbai Nightmare?," newamericamedia.org, November 28, 2008]

[The six terrorists who have made an Israeli family hostage at Nariman House . . . "had purchased around two crates of chicken and liquor worth Rs25,000 from two shops in Colaba," another resident Joseph D'Mello said.--Somendra Sharma, "Colaba terrorists have food stocks for three days," dnaindia.com, November 28, 2008]

Jerome Taylor, "'Armed police would not fire back - I wish I'd had a gun, not a camera'," Independent, November 29, 2008

Leonard Feldman, "Mumbai False Flag Attack," rense.com, November 29, 2008

[In March 1989, U.S. law enfocement rounded up a criminal network in Seattle, Los Angeles, New Jersey, Colombia, and Israel that involved a Chabad House that was involved in money laundering and currency violations. . . .

In 2007, Israeli police arrested top Chabad leaders for laundering money from Kfar Chabad, Israel.--Wayne Madsen, "Chabad Houses have history of criminal activity," waynemadsenreport.com, November 29, 2008]

AUDIO in Urdu: "An Interview with Amaresh Misra and Ahmad Qureshi," archive.org, November 30, 2008

Michel Chossudovsky, "India's 9/11: Who was Behind the Mumbai Attacks? Washington is Fostering Political Divisions between India and Pakistan," globalresearch.ca, November 30, 2008

[While stock-taking has only just begun, it already appears as if some things are being covered up.

. . . how many terrorists were there actually; how did they reach their respective destinations inland; and is it possible that "super-terrorists" simply walked out with the real survivors after having utilised the "mercenaries" to the hilt, just as they had murdered the navigators of the boats that brought them to Mumbai?

Current media reports and government sources say that the terrorists came by sea, landing near the Gateway of India or Colaba. This certainly explains the attacks on the sea front hotels like Taj, Oberoi and the Nariman House. But the question remains - how did they get to the CST station, Cama Hospital, and other places inland? Someone must have provided transport and back-up.

By no logic can anyone believe that nine separate sites in a city could be held to ransom by just 10 men. . . .

. . . the bodies of the victims bore horrible signs of torture. Now this is understandable if the victims are being tormented by half-human beasts, but it seems strange that two terrorists could simultaneously fight and keep Indian commandos at bay for 62 hours, and also have the time to torture their victims. . . .

Doctors who conducted the post-mortem said the bodies of the terrorists - especially their faces - were beyond recognition.--Sandhya Jain, "Reduce VIP security and interrogate survivors, please," vijayvaani.com, December 1, 2008]

Emily Wax, "In Just Minutes, Mumbai Was Under Siege," Washington Post, December 1, 2008

[The only CCTV image of the 'terrorist' is one from a working CCTV network at Mumbai's CST station. There are no questions being asked of why the Taj and Oberoi did not have a CCTV network. Or did they and we have not seen them?--"Going Beyond The Sharp And The Nasty," tehelka.com, December 1, 2008]

[Everything will rest on the supposed confession of the one gunman who has been captured. A Pakistani from Faridkot, I am told. Why should we believe it? Didn't the same Indian State frame all the supposed accomplices in the Parliament attack case? Didn't the same Indian State claim that the assassins of Chattisinghpura were from across the border until that story fell apart? And more recently, didn't the same Indian State finally agree that all the accused in the Mecca Masjid bombings were actually innocent? And even if Mr. Assassin supposedly from Faridkot did say what he did say - why should we believe him?--Biju Mathew, "As the Fires Die: The Terror of the Aftermath," sacw.net, December 1, 2008]

[In the 1970s, when the Indian government . . . started to bring in religious forms of mobilization to gain legitimacy, but they were outflanked on the right by the Hindu Party, particularly the Bharatiya Janata Party, which in the 1980s took off at an unimaginable pace. It created this family of organizations. In a way it outsourced its terror to groups such as the Bajrangdal and most recently to this group that committed, perhaps, the blast in Malegaon, a town northeast of Mumbai, in 2006. This group is called Abinhav Bharat.

So, these groups all across the country have been committing atrocities, mainly against Muslim populations, but not only, also against Christians, also against people who in India are known as tribals, and others. So, there's been this growth of the kind of Hindu politics, in a way, because the state has been incapable of providing an agenda for the social development, the complete development, of the Indian population.

And, of course, in reaction to this, you've seen the growth of Muslim politics, of resentment and anger.--"Toll From Deadly, Coordinated Mumbai Attacks Tops 170, Two Top Indian Officials Resign, Tensions Rise Between India and Pakistan," democracynow.org, December 1, 2008]

Syed Saleem Shahzad, "Al-Qaeda 'hijack' led to Mumbai attack," atimes.com, December 2, 2008

M K Bhadrakumar, "Strange storm brews in South Asia," atimes.com, December 2, 2008

[The violence began with some crude "dud" bombs being planted around the city. However, these are seen as "false flag" attacks carried out by HIndu nationalist terrorists who support the Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which hopes to beat the ruling Congress Party in forthcoming elections. The Hindu nationalists often wave the "Muslim terrorist" shirt to win popular support.

. . . Mumbai's exiled Muslim "Mafia" boss, on-and-off again CIA asset Dawood Ibrahim, a veteran of the CIA's mujahedin war in Afghanistan and who is now living in exile in Karachi, Pakistan, and is wanted by Indian authorities,

. . . is likely behind a good deal of the anti-British and anti-American violence in Mumbai--Wayne Madsen, "Mumbai attacks part of 'blowback' for CIA double-cross," Global Research, December 2, 2008]

[Ibrahim also sent a warning message to Israel by seizing Chabad House in Mumbai, reportedly a haven for right-wing Jewish Orthodox groups and Israeli military "trainers" who pose as backpackers on holiday in Kashmir during their reconnaissance missions.--Wayne Madsen, "More evidence of CIA-backed syndicate involvement in Mumbai attacks," Global Research, December 2, 2008]

[The report simply ignores the presence of "gora" terrorists at the Chabad House as reported by a member of the security forces who exchanged fire with them, and those well-dressed white gunmen, one blond and the other with a punk-style haircut, seen shooting up everyone in sight by several witnesses outside the Leopold Cafe, reported by various sources. The whole scenario at the Chabad centre (Nariman House) is not mentioned.--Syed A. R. Zaidi, "Wayne Madsen's View of Mumbai Attacks," December 3, 2008]

KV Ramana, "Insider whiff in Taj attack," dnaindia.com, December 3, 2008

[ . . . he allegedly has confessed to being briefed once by Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the head of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the parent organization of Lashkar-i-Taiba.--Rama Lakshmi, "Details Emerge From Sole Arrested Gunman," Washington Post, December 3, 2008]

[Although this year has been one of the worst in recent history, 1984 was arguably worse still. That year an insurgency in the Punjab culminated in the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. This in turn led to riots that took the lives of some 2,000 Sikhs. . . .

This has been another terrible year: even before the invasion of Mumbai, several hundred people had been killed and injured in terrorist assaults. . . .

If 9/11 is a metaphor for one kind of reaction to terrorism, then 11-M (as it is known in Spanish) should serve as shorthand for a different kind of response: one that emphasizes vigilance, patience and careful police work in coordination with neighboring countries.--Amitav Ghosh, "India's 9/11? Not Exactly," New York Times, December 3, 2008]

"Who are the beneficieries of Mumbai Terror?," email, December 3, 2008

Jack Shafer, "The Fog of Breaking News: Why you should take reports from the scene of a massacre with a grain of salt," Slate, December 3, 2008

"Mumbai Attacks: The Nariman House Story," email, December 4, 2008

VIDEO: "Incontrovertible proof of Pak hand in Mumbai attacks: India," Times of India, December 5, 2008

Emily Wax and Rama Lakshmi, "Indian Official Points to Pakistan: Source Says Intelligence Agency Aided Mumbai Terrorists; U.S. Unconvinced," Washington Post, December 6, 2008

"Muslims in city denounce terror," dnaindia.com, December 6, 2008

VIDEO: Paul Joseph Watson, "Ex-ISI Chief Gul Exposes 9/11 Inside Job: Pakistani General Goes In-Depth On Details CNN Refused to Broadcast," prisonplanet.com, December 10, 2008

"Interpol 'not given Mumbai data'," BBC News, December 6, 2008

Sebastian Rotella, James Glanz and David E. Sanger, "In 2008 Mumbai Attacks, Piles of Spy Data, but an Uncompleted Puzzle," propublica.org, December 21, 2014

"Complete coverage of the Mumbai attacks," Los Angeles Times

"Attacks on Mumbai," Washington Post

[Pakistan has to deal with the Mumbai mayhem, planned and launched from its soil. This requires facing the truth and admitting mistakes.--Tariq Khosa, "Mumbai attacks trial," dawn.com, August 3, 2015]