The Mumbai terror attacks

How can you be so sure that this is the work of Muslim terrorists? How can we know that this isn't the work of anti-gay Mormons, for whom no culture is sufficiently conservative or hateful.

As for the possibility of a Beslan type hostage/massacre scenario...

It is interesting that so many gunman seek out areas where they know the victims will be unarmed, isn't it?

AQ isn't interested in hostages, however. Any place with a high number of people in a confined area will do for generating a massacre, and we have seen attacks on shopping malls at least twice in recent years by gunmen. AQ particularly likes mass transit corridors as well as commercial areas for attacks. Even under their twisted theology there are rules, however, and I am not sure the Zawahiri would authorize an attack on a school as such. Not that there was any such restraint on the Chechens...

"How can we know that this isn't the work of anti-gay Mormons, for whom no culture is sufficiently conservative or hateful."

I am not aware of any anti-gay violence by Mormons. The violence over the past few weeks seems to have come from militant homosexuals.

Just like to second Patrick Henry Reardon's remark, and to say it doesn't seem especially unhateful to me to use a report on the death of 80 people as an opportunity to express an aversion for Mormons.

Friend of mine in Mumbai is reporting that things are calmer than being reported (at least in his neck of the woods). Not to say this isn't bad but it might be a little bit much to say "the whole city is being held hostage". Of course, his is just one experience, but media might be hyping this up a little bit.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

I am not aware of any anti-gay violence by Mormons. The violence over the past few weeks seems to have come from militant homosexuals.

Hatemonger!

Sometimes it's fun to imagine what Rod's posts would be titled if he had a normal blog like everybody else:

The Brushing of the Teeth Affair
The Photographing of Whiskers the Cat
The What I Ate For Lunch Incident

I have a business associate in Mumbai. I'm certain he is ok, after all it is a very large place and the odds of his being at that hotel are very small. But I'm waiting to hear from him to make sure.

"I am not sure the Zawahiri would authorize an attack on a school as such. Not that there was any such restraint on the Chechens..."

Al Qaeda has no problem with targeting and killing children. I'm aware that Al Qaeda in Iraq is a particularly nasty instance of the AQ franchise, but in Iraq have targeted and IEDed elementary school girls walking to school, killing several, left dead children on their parents' doorstep in a mutilated state I will not describe here, and have also recruited and used young teenage girls as suicide bombers. And all this was just during my last tour to the sunny Middle East. In Afghanistan, Taliban types will stop at nothing, including throwing acid at little girls' faces to prevent them from going to school.

The thinkers in Islamic legal tradition may not condone these things, and indeed, they may be largely rejected by the Muslim public as immoral and illegal from an Islamic Sharia standpoint. But it doesn't prevent these things from going on in some very dark places.

The Mumbai attacks were not only well-coordinated, which doesn't take much but good planning and reliable comms (and comms are ubiquitous in the 21st century), and maybe a rehearsal or two in a mock-up of the setting of the attacks. The attacks were also numerous, which suggests a lot of manpower. That worries me more. Behind that kind of manpower there is money, and influence. On the plus side, with that many people involved, it shouldn't take too long to uncover the responsible parties and deal with them. Their army's already securing several of the hotels. But the fact that such a series of attacks could be carried out will scare the crap out of people, which is generally one of the points of terrorism.

I do wonder if these attacks are at all related to the ones in Islamabad a little while ago?

Our cousin is in Mumbai now. Poor dear, she was so afraid to go, and now I cannot imagine how scared she is! She is with relatives and hopefully they will keep her calm. Our prayers go out to all of Mumbai!

Bloggers from Mumbai speak out against the attacks.