All Roads Lead To Pakistan
Britain's Prime Minister was in Pakistan over the weekend, meeting with the country's president, Ali Asif Zardari, and delivering a very blunt message — it's time for action, not words.
"We must break the chain of terrorism that links the mountains of Afghanistan to the streets of Britain," Prime Minister Gordon Brown said.
That chain has a pretty direct link with Islamist camps in Pakistan, including those of Lashkar-e-Taiba, raided last week by Pakistani security forces following the implication of that group in the Mumbai attacks.
Most surprising is the calculation by Britain's domestic intelligence service, MI5, that three-quarters of the serious terror plots they are monitoring have Pakistani links. Britain's Telegraph newspaper does the math and concludes that more than 20 current plots have some connection to Pakistan.
This is, of course, not the first time Pakistani elements have been implicated in British terror plots. (7/7 London bombings, 7/21 failed London train bombings, Operation Crevice, Liquid Airliner bomb plot … the list goes on).
And there's a Pakistani link in the ongoing investigation in Belgium, following the arrest of six suspected terrorists last week. The federal prosecutor said three of those under arrest had recently returned from training camps in Pakistan, and probably, combat in Afghanistan. One of the three, Hicham Beyayo, returned to Belgium on Dec. 4, and on Dec. 7, was heard recording what police say is a martyrdom video in preparation for a suicide attack.
Beyayo, Ali el-Ghanoufi and Y. Harrizi had been under surveillance since early 2008, when they left Belgium for Pakistan and Afghanistan. A Belgian-based security and terrorism think-tank, European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center (ESISC) reports that U.S. intelligence intercepted a message between Beyayo and an unidentified woman last week, in which Beyayo reportedly asked for her help in "exfiltrating" his family from Europe. (Read more about the Belgian investigation at ESISC.org).
Fearing that a suicide attack was imminent in Europe, perhaps targeting last week's European summit in Brussels, authorities made the decision to go ahead with the raids and arrests.
On to Mumbai, and again, another link to Islamists in Pakistan. The AP says it obtained a copy of the surviving gunman's confession — interesting reading but the details in the document don't quite jibe with evidence on the ground. Mohammed Ajmal Kasab is said to have told interrogators that he and his partner had intended to take hostages in the city's main train station, and planned a roof-top standoff.
Kasab and Ismail Khan killed dozens in the station and wounded many more, but there's no evidence they ever tried to take hostages there. Instead, the two gunmen traced a and out the other, before moving onto the Chama hospital using a bridge over a busy road. The confession says the gunmen mistook the hospital for an apartment building, but the hospital has gates, is clearly marked, and on Google maps, which Kasab admits studying, it is clearly shown as a medical center.
In the hospital, the gunmen did go to a high floor, heading for a large terrace, and did take at least two hospital employees hostage. Senior police officers arrived, and there was heavy fighting. But the gunmen managed to escape, and as they reached the lower floor, shot and killed the head of Mumbai's anti-terror squad.
Kasab and Khan hijacked the police vehicle, and drove out the gates, opening fire on people at a crowded intersection. When finally intercepted, the pair were on their way to a beach popular with families that was crowded even at that time of night.
Their path of destruction through Mumbai suggests that, rather than planning to hit one target (the train station), Kasab and his partner were to attack as many places as possible, sow as much confusion and fear as they could and keep going for as long as they were able.
© 2008 CBS Interactive Inc.. All Rights Reserved. "We must break the chain of terrorism that links the mountains of Afghanistan to the streets of Britain," Prime Minister Gordon Brown said.
That chain has a pretty direct link with Islamist camps in Pakistan, including those of Lashkar-e-Taiba, raided last week by Pakistani security forces following the implication of that group in the Mumbai attacks.
Most surprising is the calculation by Britain's domestic intelligence service, MI5, that three-quarters of the serious terror plots they are monitoring have Pakistani links. Britain's Telegraph newspaper does the math and concludes that more than 20 current plots have some connection to Pakistan.
This is, of course, not the first time Pakistani elements have been implicated in British terror plots. (7/7 London bombings, 7/21 failed London train bombings, Operation Crevice, Liquid Airliner bomb plot … the list goes on).
And there's a Pakistani link in the ongoing investigation in Belgium, following the arrest of six suspected terrorists last week. The federal prosecutor said three of those under arrest had recently returned from training camps in Pakistan, and probably, combat in Afghanistan. One of the three, Hicham Beyayo, returned to Belgium on Dec. 4, and on Dec. 7, was heard recording what police say is a martyrdom video in preparation for a suicide attack.
Beyayo, Ali el-Ghanoufi and Y. Harrizi had been under surveillance since early 2008, when they left Belgium for Pakistan and Afghanistan. A Belgian-based security and terrorism think-tank, European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center (ESISC) reports that U.S. intelligence intercepted a message between Beyayo and an unidentified woman last week, in which Beyayo reportedly asked for her help in "exfiltrating" his family from Europe. (Read more about the Belgian investigation at ESISC.org).
Fearing that a suicide attack was imminent in Europe, perhaps targeting last week's European summit in Brussels, authorities made the decision to go ahead with the raids and arrests.
(AP Photo/Roshan Mughal)
Kasab and Ismail Khan killed dozens in the station and wounded many more, but there's no evidence they ever tried to take hostages there. Instead, the two gunmen traced a and out the other, before moving onto the Chama hospital using a bridge over a busy road. The confession says the gunmen mistook the hospital for an apartment building, but the hospital has gates, is clearly marked, and on Google maps, which Kasab admits studying, it is clearly shown as a medical center.
In the hospital, the gunmen did go to a high floor, heading for a large terrace, and did take at least two hospital employees hostage. Senior police officers arrived, and there was heavy fighting. But the gunmen managed to escape, and as they reached the lower floor, shot and killed the head of Mumbai's anti-terror squad.
Kasab and Khan hijacked the police vehicle, and drove out the gates, opening fire on people at a crowded intersection. When finally intercepted, the pair were on their way to a beach popular with families that was crowded even at that time of night.
Their path of destruction through Mumbai suggests that, rather than planning to hit one target (the train station), Kasab and his partner were to attack as many places as possible, sow as much confusion and fear as they could and keep going for as long as they were able.
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They would stand nothing to gain, and everything to lose.
Here is a far more likely possibility:
Why the Israelis might be behind these attacks-
Motive:
The Israelis have an open hatred and fear of all Muslims.
The Israelis know Pakistan is one of the least stable countries in this region of Muslim countries.
The Israelis are making billions of dollars selling weapons and "training" to the Indian government.
The Indians are already paranoid about Pakistan, and the Israelis know that it wouldn''t take much to coax India into blaming Pakistan for the attacks.
The Israelis would very much like to see the rest of the world hate and fear Muslims as much as they do.
Means:
The Israelis have the planners and weaponry needed to orchestrate a sophisticated attack like this.
The Israelis have the ability to transport attackers into the area undetected.
The Israelis have the ability to analyze security vulnerabilities and to exploit them.
Opportunity:
The Israelis have been training the Indian security forces for some time now.
The Israelis are sending %u201Cinvestigators%u201D to the scene, giving them an opportunity to reach whatever conclusions they would like to about who is responsible for the attacks.
Mr. Ralph Peters has written a much more perspicacious article in New York Post on the Mumbai massacre pointing out envy is the key motivator.
A myth peddled by "experts" everywhere in Western media is once " Kashmir problem" is solved everything will be hunky dory. There is Kashmir %u201Cproblem%u201D and then there is Pakistan problem, the latter a much bigger threat to humanity. Kashmir is not a fight about real estate, but it is a question about the very idea of India as a country, as a concept- AMULTI RELIGIOUS, MULTIETHNIC SECULAR DEMOCRACY. 150 million muslims live in India in its villages and cities across the length and breadth of the country. There are many neighborhoods of cities and villages, with Muslim majority. Should they all become independent? 1000 pakistans across India ? This may sound like a rhetorical question but this was exactly what was visualized by some of the *** ideologues pre-1947 and still dreamed by many in the Pak army and ISI.
http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/dec/02mumterror-pakistan-will-have-to-pay-a-heavy-price.htm
Finally, rest of the humanity has started to recognize the cancer of Pakistani terrorism. The terror strategy of Pak army / ISI against India stands on one solid single pillar- PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY. This time in Mumbai they messed up in the execution and have been caught red handed.
The claim made most often by Pak jihadis and its 150 million supporters in "Pakistan" is this-----" such a terrorist attack or such a military mis- adventure (like the Kargil invasion they indulged in 1999) would be detrimental to Pakistan , so why would we do it?" They have used this tactic several times in the last 61 years and each time they have been exposed!! Mumbai is turning out to be Kargil 2008. In 1999 the pakis stealthily sent out one of its regiments, the Northern infantry made of Pashtuns, to capture mountains in Kashmir, lied through the teeth for months these were %u201CKashmiri freedom fighters%u201D. Until they were humiliated internationally, were forced to admit and retreat.