china confidential
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Why Terrorists Tried to Kill the Golden Songbird
Suketu Mehta's Op-Ed essay in The New York Times is a must-read. My bleeding city. My poor great bleeding heart of a city. Why do they go after Mumbai? There’s something about this island-state that appalls religious extremists, Hindus and Muslims alike. Perhaps because Mumbai stands for lucre, profane dreams and an indiscriminate openness.
Mumbai is all about dhandha, or transaction. From the street food vendor squatting on a sidewalk, fiercely guarding his little business, to the tycoons and their dreams of acquiring Hollywood, this city understands money and has no guilt about the getting and spending of it. I once asked a Muslim man living in a shack without indoor plumbing what kept him in the city. “Mumbai is a golden songbird,” he said. It flies quick and sly, and you’ll have to work hard to catch it, but if you do, a fabulous fortune will open up for you. The executives who congregated in the Taj Mahal hotel were chasing this golden songbird. The terrorists want to kill the songbird.
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Not Just the Economy, Stupid
Dateline USA....
There is more to the Bush-Obama cooperation than meets the eye. More than the economy, even.
China Confidential analysts say the outgoing and incoming administrations have been briefed about possible terrorist attacks over the holiday season--a threat that is believed to be growing in the wake of the Mumbai attacks.
In theory, it would not be difficult for Al Qaeda and other Islamist terrorists to attack any American city. Office and residential buildings, schools, hospitals, airports and train stations, malls and shopping centers ... all soft targets are clearly vulnerable.Eyewitness: Black Cats Cleared Taj Room by Room
Phil Smith has been the Reuters Editor for South Asia since 2005. Previously he worked for Reuters in Sydney, Singapore and London. Phil was out on the streets of Mumbai with a reporter's notebook throughout the militant attacks on India's financial capital. In the following story, he describes his vigil outside the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel.
By Phil Smith
MUMBAI (Reuters) - The gunbattle at Mumbai's famous Taj Mahal Palace Hotel was finally over after three bloody days, but the dull thud of explosions still vibrated up through the shoes of those standing nearby.
India's crack NSG "Black Cat" commandos went from room to room to secure the battle-scarred old building, mopping up after brazen, coordinated attacks that killed at least 155 people at three sites in the heart of India's financial hub.
The bodycount rose as one last gunfight in the Taj marked the end of the drama, during which scores of foreigners hid terrified in their rooms and many more were taken hostage.
Live television images were jolted by explosions, either from stun grenades or controlled detonations used to destroy ordnance found by the Black Cats as they prowled through the hotel.
The gunbattle ended just after dawn on Saturday.
In the early hours I made my way around to the back of the Taj, where a crack Sikh regiment was stationed.
Stray bullets fizzed as they passed overhead in light rain.
By that stage the story had become a little surreal as tiredness and fear set in, like watching a televised news report with me in it unfold before my own eyes.
After 30 years in journalism I knew it was my job to be there but it was still hard to put aside fears for my own safety.
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Sunday, 30 November 2008
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