U.S. Fears Pakistan Role In India Attacks

6 Americans Among 195 Killed In Mumbai Terror Siege

(CBS/AP)  U.S. officials are worried about a possible surge in violence between India and Pakistan after the bloody attacks in Mumbai that killed at least 195 people, including six Americans. To ease tensions, intelligence officials are searching urgently for clues that might identify the attackers even as Indian officials claim "elements in Pakistan" were involved.

FBI agents were preparing to fly to India to investigate the bloody attacks in the Indian financial capital as the State Department warned U.S. citizens still in the city that their lives remain at risk.

A U.S. counterterrorism official said some "signatures of the attack" were consistent with the work of Pakistani militant groups known as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed that have fought Indian troops in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir and also are reported to be linked to al Qaeda.

But the official emphasized it was premature to pinpoint who was responsible for the attacks. Another official, specializing in counterintelligence, also cautioned against rushing to judgment on the origins of the gunmen who waged a two-and-a-half-day rampage through India's leading commercial center before being killed.

The U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.

The U.S. Embassy in New Delhi on Saturday raised the death toll among Americans from five to six including at least three a Jewish outreach center and a man and his 13-year-old daughter killed when gunfire erupted at a hotel restaurant. Embassy officials gave no details on the identity of the sixth victim.

Will Geddes, an international risk assessment specialist, told The Saturday Early Show that the attacks were the worst nightmare about how terrorists go about an attack.

By hitting hotels, the terrorists hit everyone that they could possibly want to. They hit the international community and they hit Indians, Geddes said. For al Qaeda, hotels are a favored target as they do just that - hitting everyone at the same time. Hotels in India are used not fore foreign travelers to stay in but also as offices by travelling staff.


India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir. U.S. officials are concerned about a flare-up in animosity similar to one that occurred after Pakistani militants attacked the Indian parliament in December 2001, the officials said.

Underscoring those fears, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has called the foreign minister of India twice, along with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, since the crisis began.

"There were very worrying tensions in the region," said Gordon Duguid, a State Department spokesman. "She was calling the president of Pakistan to get his read on how those tensions might be affected."

As U.S. officials worked to ease hard feelings between India and Pakistan, a tentative rapprochement between the two nuclear-armed rivals could hang in the balance.

Pakistan's ambassador to the U.S., Husain Haqqani, said in a statement that his country is "confronting the menace of terrorism with great vigor." Haqqani insisted "it is unfair to blame Pakistan or Pakistanis for these acts of terrorism even before an investigation is undertaken."

President George W. Bush pledged cooperation with Indian authorities and mourned the deaths of at least 195 people at the hands of gunmen.

"My administration has been working with the Indian government and the international community as Indian authorities work to ensure the safety of those still under threat," Bush said in statement Friday.

Bush was receiving regular updates, White House press secretary Dana Perino said Friday night. Senior administration officials were focused on ensuring that Americans were being helped in every way possible, she said.

Duguid, the State Department spokesman, cautioned that "Americans are still at risk on the ground," and repeated calls for U.S. citizens not to travel to the stricken city at least through the weekend.

Officials were working out the final details with Indian diplomats Friday for the departure of an FBI team, said U.S. authorities, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because of the delicate nature of the operation. A second group of investigators was on alert to join the first team if necessary.

U.S. officials were checking with Indian authorities and hospitals to learn more about the extent of casualties.

Among the dead were:

Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg, 29, and his wife, Rivkah, 28. They were killed in an attack on the ultra-Orthodox Chabad-Lubavitch movement's center in Mumbai, Rabbi Zalman Shmotkin said in New York. Officials could not confirm whether Rivkah Holtzberg was, like her husband, an American citizen, or whether she was the sixth American fatality the embassy in New Delhi alluded to on Saturday.

Bentzion Chroman, an Israeli with dual U.S. citizenship who was visiting the center.

Rabbi Leibish Teitlebaum of Brooklyn, N.Y., who was visiting the center.

Alan Scherr, 58, and daughter Naomi, 13, of Virginia, who died in a cafe Wednesday night. They lived at the Synchronicity Foundation sanctuary about 15 miles southwest of Charlottesville, Va., and were among 25 foundation participants in a spiritual program in Mumbai, said Bobbie Garvey, a spokeswoman for the foundation, which promotes a form of meditation.

Duguid said consular staff would continue to work with Indian police until all missing Americans were accounted for.

U.S. officials have activated a phone tree to contact American citizens who registered with the U.S. consulate in Mumbai, State Department spokesman Robert McInturff said.

President-elect Barack Obama has spoken by telephone with Rice about the attacks and received several intelligence briefings, State Department officials said. They said Rice spoke again Friday with Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

"These terrorists who targeted innocent civilians will not defeat India's great democracy, nor shake the will of a global coalition to defeat them," Obama said in a statement. "The United States must stand with India and all nations and people who are committed to destroying terrorist networks, and defeating their hate-filled ideology."

The State Department set up a call center for Americans concerned about family members who may be in Mumbai. The number is 1-888-407-4747.

[spinproof]

The World is headed over the cliff, life as we know it may soon end, every nation has to step on the brakes of extinction if Earth and Life are to continue. There is no recovery to live and fight another day with this new generation of nuclear weapons, the next wars will be it, the end for humans for sure.

[cbs_oliver]

"....Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed that have fought Indian troops in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir and also are reported to be linked to al Qaeda."

So far as I can tell the only links are that they come from the same general part of the world and have some common religious beliefs. This is not much commonality.

It is sloppy thinking and tends to push people to stupidly identify Muslims with al Qaeda rather than the other way around.

We should be smarter than that.

[promaclaura]

" Obama said in a statement. "The United States must stand with India and all nations and people who are committed to destroying terrorist networks, and defeating their hate-filled ideology."

-Barack must keep repeating this statement for some of his supporters who still have their heads up GW''s b utt (Bush Derangement Syndrome) and refuse to believe there is a "war on terror".

[wardoglrs]

The Neo Cons are pulling all the strings. All of Obama''s team have something in common ..They all supported the war.. "Change you can believe in"
Yes we can

[andrew_693]

hopefully this time around the GOP will not be investigating Obamas black p3n1s and instead of saying that he is wagging the dog they will actually support our war against religious fanatics

[trishab56]

Great opportunity to sell weapons to the (yet old) New battlefield heroes! Who is contracting? What blood-soaked money are we earning tomorrow?

[wardoglrs]

Madeline Albright - CFR, Brookings - Currently serves on the Council on Foreign Relations Board of directors. Secretary of State and US Ambassador to the United Nations under Clinton. Did not take action against the genocide in Rwanda. Defended the sanctions against Iraq under Saddam Hussein. When asked by CBS%u2019s 60 Minutes about the effects of sanctions: "We have heard that half a million children have died. I mean, that%u2019s more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?" Albright replied: "I think this is a very hard choice, but the price %u2014 we think the price is worth it."

This is by no means an exhaustive list. Of course, had John McCain become president, being a member of the CFR himself, his administration would have been replete with CFR representatives also. Max Boot, Lawrence Eagleburger and Henry Kissinger, to name but a few, are all CFR members and were all advisors to the McCain campaign.

Please do your own research and add more names in the comments section of this report. It is important to document how these people are a part of the engine of global elitism and do not represent change. Only with this understanding will others wake up to the false left-right paradigm and be able to create the environment for real political change.

[wardoglrs]

Lawrence Korb - CFR, Brookings - Director of National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. Has criticized manor of the invasion of Iraq but has detailed plans to increase the manpower of the United States Army to fight the war on terror and to "spread liberal democratic values throughout the Middle East".

Bruce Reidel - CFR, Brookings - Former CIA analyst who wishes to expand the war on terror to fight Al Qaeda across the globe. Considered to be the reason behind Barack Obama%u2019s Hawkish views on Pakistan and his Pro India leanings on Kashmir.

Stephen Flynn - CFR - Has been attributed with the idea for Obama%u2019s much vaunted "Civilian Security Force". Flynn has written: "The United States should roughly replicate the Federal Reserve model by creating a Federal Security Reserve System (FSRS) with a national board of governors, 10 regional Homeland Security Districts, and 92 local branches called Metropolitan Anti-Terrorism Committees. The objective of this system would be to develop self-funding mechanisms to more fully engage a broad cross-section of American society to protect the country%u2019s critical foundations from the widespread disruption that would arise from a terrorist attack."

[wardoglrs]

Anthony Lake - CFR, PNAC - Bill Clinton%u2019s first national security adviser, who was criticized for the administration%u2019s failure to confront the genocide in Rwanda in 1994 and now acknowledges the inaction as a major mistake.

Zbigniew Brzezinski - CFR, Trilateral Commission - Brzezinski is widely seen as the man who created Al Qaeda, and was involved in the Carter Administration plan to give arms, funding and training to the mujahideen in Afghanistan.

Richard Clarke - CFR - Former chief counter-terrorism adviser on the U.S. National Security Council under Bush. Notoriously turned against the Bush administration after 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq. Also advised Madeleine Albright during the Genocide in Rwanda.

Ivo Daalder - CFR, Brookings, PNAC - Co-authored a Washington Post op-ed with neocon Robert Kagan arguing that interventionism is a bipartisan affair that should be undertaken with the approval of our democratic allies.

Dennis Ross - CFR, Trilateral Commission, PNAC - Served as the director for policy planning in the State Department under President George H. W. Bush and special Middle East coordinator under President Bill Clinton. A noted supporter of the Iraq war, Ross is also a Foreign Affairs Analyst for the Fox News Channel.

[wardoglrs]

Meet some of president elect Obama%u2019s leading foreign and domestic policy advisors and likely administration members, every one of them a prominent member of the Council On Foreign Relations.

Will these people bring about "change" or will they continue to hold up the same entrenched system forged by the corporate elite for decades?

Susan E. Rice - Council on Foreign Relations, The Brookings Institution - Served as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs under Clinton from 1997 to 2001. Former Secretary of State Madeline Albright is a longtime mentor and family friend to Rice. Critics charge that she is is ill disposed towards Europe, has little understanding of the Middle East and would essentially follow the same policies of Condoleeza Rice if appointed the next Secretary of State or the National Security Adviser.

[babooph]

Brits & *** terrorists,Egyptian ,Jordanian,& Saudis at 9/11-& Bush at war with Afghans & Iraqis-the US propaganda system sold the public ONE BIG LIE-now we suffer the results.No new administration can fix the mess-Mc Cain may have gotten lucky !

[downsteamjim]

bapoop: So George Bush made these Islamic terrorists attack India.

[runningralph]

I didn''t vote for Obama but I will be the first to take his side if he keeps up the war on terror. Also I hope he will come out against indiscriminate breeding, which is the root of most crime in the US. Obama''s statement at the end of this article is encouraging.

[downsteamjim]

''indescriminate breeding'' must be an asset for the Democrat party. Why else would the party work so hard to see that convicted felons get to vote?

[downsteamjim]

morphinedoll3: Maybe if you get a pet it would help.

[piercetheval]

OM VAJRA OM...OM NAMATE HANUMAN OM...!

[rudy6543]

''''indescriminate breeding'''' must be an asset for the Democrat party. Why else would the party work so hard to see that convicted felons get to vote?


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Posted by downsteamjim at 10:37 AM

Go speak to yourself about convicted felons since the republicans have quite a few, and now Cheney and Gonzalez are under indictement in Texas for their own greed.

[niceface19]

bush botched it once again. bribing islamic nations like pakistan and their military dictators(billions in aid), is only going to keep the greedy fat azzes like bush,quiet so long. the rest of the pakis hate our azzes.......when are the neoclowns going to face that fact?

perhaps we need to just mind our own *** business, for once,like we eventually did in vietnam. then we will see them welcoming us back..........ON THEIR OWN TERMS, not ours!!

Posted by usadvisor101 at 10:01 AM : Nov 29, 2008

This is great post, you''re better than Obama and McCain

[W.W. Terry]

I wish there was a nut filter on this comment site to filter out the stupid bable of the retarded. The bottom line of the story was the evil acts of what appears to be once again muslims in their never ending attacks on civilization. Something a blind man could clearly see. During the 1300 year history of Islam it has been estimated some 100 million people have been butchered by followers of the evil Muhammad and his creation the evil, bigoted, hate filled religion Islam. May it''s followers roast in Hell. Caio! wwterry

[jydavis1]

obviously a Mossad false-flag operation (like 9/11) to illicit more phony sympathy for the zionist cause.

[thcarson-2009]

India has a right to go after countries that harbor terrorists that attack them the same as we do. I say f*ck Pakistan they harbor Al-Qaeda and get in a tizzy when we target them with predator drones, I hope India whips their azzes.

[hotpaulie]

It looks like Bush''s war on terror is going to
h e l l!!!

[downsteamjim]

william909: What is your point about using drones. Do you want more dead GIs? When Muslims kill innocent 13 year old girls is that chivalry?

[thcarson-2009]

Predator drones.. sha.. ain''''t that the courageous way to fight muslims.. huh? Some geek with a joystick. Illustrates pretty well the republican mentality..


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Posted by william908

If the muslims had the technology they would use it, they just use stupid followers of their perversion of the muslim faith as suicide bombs.

[downsteamjim]

william908: Is killing an innocent 13 year old chivalry and are you Yosemite Sam who lost his nerve?

[downsteamjim]

William908: You don''t know if you are Yosemite Sam?

[mrmeatspin]

Its not the job of the american people to make fatcat ceos richer and fatter doing business where they ain''''t got no business. These countries that got terror have their own problems. Best let them sort it out.. And when they got it all sorted out? Well, we''''ll have another meeting..

Posted by william908 at 12:08 PM : Nov 29, 2008
+ report abuse

******

that is a good idea..the problem is..they have this nast habit of coming here, where we live in peace and serenity, and mess it up with 747''s a c4..

you really need to tell them that..or else IT IS A LOOSING BATTLE.......for us

[downsteamjim]

William908: I can understand you no knowing me, but you should at least know yourself.

[mrmeatspin]

Just lock the cockpit doors.

Posted by william908 at 12:16 PM : Nov 29, 2008
+ report abuse

*****

thats a good idea..we can have a plane full of osama bin ladens in a 747 heading for new york but it is alllll okay because the cockpit doors are kept lock..

[mrmeatspin]

Just lock the cockpit doors.

Posted by william908 at 12:16 PM : Nov 29, 2008
+ report abuse

****
so what are you going to do when they start bombing american schools, shopping centers and govt building within the borders of the US???

lock your house doors?? good idea

[mrmeatspin]

And next time a terrorist gits on a airplane, pick up de ******** phone. Call the FAA..

Posted by william908 at 12:18 PM : Nov 29, 2008
+ report abuse

*******

and what do you want an FAA agent who is on the ground thousands of miles away to do about a terrorist sitting next to you ready to ram it againt a building??

give you comforting words???

how about we prevent these people from even boarding the plane..do you like that idea better?

[mrmeatspin]

Oh.. yer talk''''n about afterwards.. Oh. Its like yer talk''''n french sometimes.. Anyway, yah send''''em to Bush''''s ranch.

Posted by william908 at 12:19 PM : Nov 29, 2008
+ report abuse
*********

i prefer to be proactive than reactive to an attack..and btw bush is out in a month..

do you think terrorism ends then?? they will be going to a secret obama ranch *wink*

[mrmeatspin]

Posted by william908 at 12:18 PM : Nov 29, 2008
+ report abuse

******

so you plan to sit in an office and WAIT FOR THE NEXT ATTACK..brilliant..well it will all end when there is NOTHING to protect because we are all dead

[mrmeatspin]

You must use the encyclopedia brittanica... i gotta different defintion of proactive. Its called ''''being prepared''''.

Posted by william908 at 12:27 PM : Nov 29, 2008
+ report abuse

*******

fu ckking exellent..you know the definition..now do you know how to use it in a sentence..better yet do you know a good example of being proactive..

or better yet..use it in a sentence about terrorism

[mrmeatspin]

There were no wmds.. There never are. The only wmds are the people going: ''''be proactive''''.

Posted by william908 at 12:30 PM : Nov 29, 2008
+ report abuse

**************

so saddam spent billions of cotton candy?? and ronald reagan gave saddam nothing but science sets for his people??

[mrmeatspin]

ts only a rich... fat ******** doofus that declares war on people and goes: ''''hey just act normal''''.

Posted by william908 at 12:32 PM : Nov 29, 2008
+ report abus
********

and what do you call the people who saw the wtc go down and said "hey just act normal".."they might just go away"

[downsteamjim]

In an attack William908 will be safe. He has a door on top of his septic tank.

[mrmeatspin]

How ya gonna know who the badguys are? Their own government don''''t know who the bad guys are. How you gonna?

Posted by william908 at 12:34 PM : Nov 29, 2008
+ report abuse

********

one thing i know how you can tell the bad guys from the good guys..

the bad guys are the ones who are trying to kill you..

[downsteamjim]

Williams908 has written on the top of his septic tank ...''were gona tear the top off this place and git to the bottom of it''

[mrmeatspin]

''We''''re gonna tear the roof off the place.. and git to the bottom of this. Of what caused this.. so as it never happens again.''''

Posted by william908 at 12:36 PM : Nov 29, 2008
+ report abuse

********************

JESUS H CHRIST ON RUBBER CRUTCHES..you cannot be serious!!!

i think the constant televised rantings from osama bin laden was a dead giveaway..and perhaps maybe those years and years of terrorist attacks from muslim insurgents MIGHT also be a dead giveaway..

so what kind of proof do you wan.."a dr evil kinda coming on the tv screen demandin a gajillion dollars" kinda proof??

[mrmeatspin]

But its gotta happen first, right? How ya gonna know what the issues are that drive these things? Its not even yer country.

Posted by william908 at 12:37 PM : Nov 29, 2008
+ report abuse
*********

it already happened junior!! several times..and newsweek and time magazine ALREADY PUBLISHED ARTICLEs on what drives these people..


and this country is MY country..mofo

[mrmeatspin]

You have a point but we are at the disadvantage fighting them on their turf.

Posted by demswin08 at 12:41 PM : Nov 29, 2008
+ report abuse

******
yeah we are..the liberals are protecting them..that is the disadvantage..

but now that we have a liberal in office..lets see them in action..

[mrmeatspin]

''''so what kind of proof do you wan.."a dr evil kinda coming on the tv screen demandin a gajillion dollars" kinda proof??''''

Everything.

Posted by william908 at 12:44 PM : Nov 29, 2008
+ report abuse

***********

dont worry oliver stone might feel patriotic one of these days and $$ell you the truth

[mrmeatspin]

Yah.. I think I heard about it. ''''You not minding yer own business.''''

Posted by william908 at 12:46 PM : Nov 29, 2008
+ report abuse

*****************

todays world is a small world..what happens in that armpit part of the planet..IT AFFECTS our economy..and what affects our economy..affects me..and if affects me..its my business..

[mrmeatspin]

what is happening now is caused by a shift on our economy..we are at war..and our commodities and resources are threatened. we have a media that is biased and corrupt..

things will get really ugly my friend..you best start digging your bomb shelter..

[mrmeatspin]

e''''s a ******** loser..

Posted by william908 at 12:49 PM : Nov 29, 2008
+ report abuse

****

that loser kept the entire DNC at bay for 8 years..feared by pretty much every muslim dicator..

Hollywood even made a movie about him..THIS GUY IS A SUPERSTART..

[mrmeatspin]

So then.. thats what this war on terror is really about then, ain''''t it. CEOs doing business overseas.. The US Military is in the Insurance business.

Posted by william908 at 12:50 PM : Nov 29, 2008
+ report abuse

********************

you talk like you dont participate in economy..
what you live in a cave..grow your own food..make your own cloths and furntiure,,dont use legal tender????

you know what you are..you are like a person ******** about how the cook butchered the cow after he served you a steak

[mrmeatspin]

This ain''''t my war.

Posted by william908 at 12:53 PM : Nov 29, 2008
+ report abuse

*********

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH

make sure you have a very strong lock on that cockpit door..

HAHAHAHAHAHAH

[niceface19]

william908 at 12:48 PM

You are American idol for sure, I vote for you.

[mrmeatspin]

I''''m stand''''n in line at wallmart... got here early.. This is you doofuses war... I''''m ''''act''''n normal''''.

Posted by william908 at 12:54 PM : Nov 29, 2008
+ report abuse

*********

you standing in wal mart..JUST JUSTIFIED A WAR