The Mayhem in Mumbai

Liberals are the only people on earth who need to personally lose a loved one to terrorism in order to place the blame for terror where it belongs: directly on the heads of the people who commit the crimes. Nobody???no person or government-- 'causes' a person to become a mass-murdering sociopathic killer. People are responsible for their own actions, regardless of where they were born, their culture, or their so-called religion. Until the majority of the world wakes up and recognizes radical Islam for the cancer it is, these attacks will continue. I fear we really need another 9-11, times 10, to give the world this wake-up call.

I spent 6 months in India a few years ago, mostly in Chennai, with only a visit to Mumbai. However, you could feel the energy and excitement of country on the rise, especially in Mumbai. India is truly a great nation with a great people and the United States should do all it can to help them. Both to defeat these terrorist and to maintain the kind of friendship that the worlds two largest democracies should have with each other. My condolences to my friends in India and the families of all who were killed or injured.

Terrorists are the worst enemies of the humanity.Today,s attack in the Mumbai hotels by the terrorists coming from Karachi of Pakistan has resulted in loss of 101 innocent lives and injuries to more than 300 people.
Pakistan has become the most fertile land where crops of terrorism are harvested in abundance to distribute them throughout the world.
USA, had flown in to a rage when its twin towers of the WTC were collapsed on 9/11 and it razed to the ground Afganistan and Iraq to nab the terrorists responsible and had pledged to end the terrorism in the world. Alas nothing has been done to control Pakistan which has become the training centre of terrorism. US should practice what it preaches. It is true that only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches. America should come forward and take a lead to contain it with an iron fist . It should help those countries which are becoming the soft targets of the henious crimes commited by the enemies of the humanity.
Dilbag Rai. Chandigarh India

You may want to hear the gloating statements made by the perpetrators (Mr Sahadullah, Imran Baber) [available on rediff.com]; Their urdu accent appears similar to what one hears spoken in Pakistan's Northwestern provinces . It is entirely plausible that Pakistan's military establishment is NOT behind this though their rogue intelligenence agency (ISI) cannot be ruled out

Blaming Indian muslim's for this attack is very irresponsible and will only threaten that community with harsh reprisals

fiber artist , all you did was name tiny and insignificant groups of the past(KKK, IRA). All your examples are either closed down, or even when they were active they had very, very low body counts and small attacks. Nothing you mentioned even comes close to the attacks abd body counts. Try this: over 5 million people killed by Muslims, in the name of Islam since 1970. Also, the Muslims are killing people NOW. You are digging thru ancient and closed past. Let's fight problems that exist NOW, rather than in the 70's.

I am stunned by Fareed's "analysis". India has a huge Muslim population - one that has more participation in the democratic process than Muslims in most countries. It is true that there are Hindu Muslim tensions, but most Indian Muslims tend to be loyal to the Indian state. In virtually ALL terrorist attacks on India, we have seen an element of training, organization and orders coming from Pakistan's "ISI" intelligence services, which are an unchecked organization inside that country. Just to be sure, the ISI was responsible for the creation of the Taliban, was very involved with Al Qaeda until 9/11, and have actively been supporting Pakistani terrorist groups such as Lashkar e Toiba (LeT) - who are clearly behind these attacks. The Indian Navy has already found the ship from which speed boats were launched with gunmen. The boat was regsitered in Karachi, Pakistan. Fareed Zakaria may have personal reasons to try and blame India for these attacks (ie its anti-Muslim), and to that end Zakaria is falling into the sickening Islamic ploy of blaming the victim. But Fareed and his paranoia are irrelevant. I sense India is crossing a line here, and after suffering many attacks - may be ready to take action. Im just not sure what that action will be, but whatever it is - it needs to include the closing down of Pakistan's ISI intelligence services
Manish Thakur

It's outrageous and offensive that Newsweek use the headline "Making sense of India's terrorist attacks".
There is no sense here to be made. None. Ever. These are mass murderers that obviously place no value on human life, and they need to be rooted out and killed. One may as well try to make "sense" of Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, or Hitler.

At a time of national tragedy as the terrorists seize the biggest city in India, for Fareed Zakaria to say that, Muslims have not shared in the boom of India and that there is lot of discrimination, is not worthy of a great journalist. The terrorists have enough excuses to perpetrate their crimes.

Regarding Fareed Zakaria's comments on Muslims not being part of the current boom in India:
The comments smell very much like the excuses given by the African American in the US who complain that institutionally the US has always discriminated against them and kept them poor and backward. Barrack Obama has exposed that lie just as numerous Indian Muslims including a former President of America and Fareed Zakaria's own family have exposed the very lie that he expounds.
Muslims in large part are Hindu converts from the backward and poor communities. Their problems are the same as other Hindus who still belong to similar communities. There is no need to bring in religion as a crutch to explain this backwardness. While the Armed forces and State Police and Security services are not exactly over run with Muslims, under current circumstances anyone would understand.
If you would like to have the opinion of a "Native" on Islam and its terrorist potential, you might do well to watch the videos of Wafa Sultan on the Web.

svengali @ 11/27/2008 10:40:40 AM

Hey, svengali!

Don't readers know you from the unceasing of the spread of your venom every where on the internet?

No doubt Haaretz will give you a job as Columnist Emeritus, right?

At a moment of unheard of tragedy as terrorists seized the city of Mumbai, for Fareed Zakaria to say that Muslim population has not shared in the boom of India and that "there is still a lot of institutional discrimination, and many remain persecuted" is not worthy of a great jurnalist. He could have reserve that comment for a scholarly essay later on.

As long as the Moslems attacked, I hope they managed to get some of the American outsourcers who flock to India in order to undercut American jobs. The Indians have figured out that they need no industry to build their economy; all they need is technical schools and low-paid workers and American business will stream to their country to take advantage of the cheap labor in that 3rd world country. And now they're shocked, *shocked* to find that there are other aspects to being a 3rd world country than simply being a pool of cheap labor. If American business is concerned with their safety as they go to sell American jobs to the Indians, I suggest that they search for hires right here in America. The businesses might have to pay Americans more than Indians, but in return the recruiters get to stay at the Embassy Suites where the only menace is the occasional drunk traveling salesman in the bar. I don't care if the Moslem terrorists eviscerate the outsourcers in Bombay. As far as I'm concerned, they can burn that mother down.

One thing's clear. It's George Bush's fault.

Zakaria seems sympathetic to Osama and Al Zawahri. The truth is Osama had released a statement that something more spectacular is going to happen in the near future.

While I respect Fareed Zakaria for his intellect and writings, I request readers not to give his comments credence just because he was once upon a time a "Mumbai native". How typical of writers from the Indian diaspora to claim authority on a nation they left behind long ago and visit as tourists!
I speak from the Mumbai of this moment - right on the spot!
The Terrorists have clearly sought out premium Western targets, even as they have indiscriminately killed all Indians who got in their way.
Since they landed on the SOuthern COastline right at the Gateway of India, it was natural for them to attack the Taj and Oberoi Hotels rather than the northern suburban hotels of the JW Marriot or the Four Seasons. The security at these 2 Hotels is superb and the terrorists could never have entered as easily as they did the Taj and the Oberoi (with next to ZERO security). THe Oberoi Hilton is now the Oberoi Trident and was a prime target.
They laser focused an attack on the Israeli Nariman House owned by the Jewish Chabad Movement. Even we genuine Mumbai natives were unaware of this Israeli outpost.
At the Taj & Oberoi Hotels, they very clearly sought to identify and isolate US & UK passport holders for hostage taking even as they indiscriminately killed any and all Indians who got in their way.
The current though is that they are trained and launched by the Taliban / Pakistani ISI combine to display their ire at the US action to stymie them.

test, test

The comment that all terrorists are Muslim - you mean like the IRA (Protestant), the ETA (Basque), the Aryan Nation (WASP), the OK city bomber, the Atlanta Olympic bomber? And, don't forget the JDL, the Greek groups in the 1970's, the KKK and the list goes on.....