Israel Keeps Mum About India's Botched Rescue | Newsweek International

Member Comments

- Reply
- Report Abuse
Posted By: SoCalMike @ 12/03/2008 11:14:34 PM

timothyone: Why does it bother you so much that a few Israeli military authorities expressed frustration with not being called to help out when they are amongst the highest-trained and most equipped anti-terrorist forces in the world? Israel is a military partner and ally of India, and after a few hours into the Mumbai attacks it was becoming overly appearant that the Indian military was less-than-effective in ending the ongoing sieges.

- Reply
- Report Abuse
Posted By: Ridgetop @ 12/03/2008 6:10:48 PM

As someone with some experience in this here's my take. The Indian security forces are woefully undertrained, underarmed, and unprepared for what occurred. Most, in not all, of the police force haven't been given the opportunity to train with their weapons and the majority are not armed at. They were cowering while the terrorists were in the open and would have been shot down by a trained police or military unit. There commandos have not trained for such an eventuality and took it in the teeth because of that. Saying they did not care about a handful of Israelis is ridiculous, and I believe they did the best they could with the sloppy training they've had. By the time the rescue operation was in effect the rest of the terrorists were either out of commission or holed up in the hotel so the forces were not mainly worried about the Indian citizens. India should have been well aware a situation like this would eventually take place but they took little or no proactive moves to prevent it. They have been hit repeatedly by Islamic terrorism but it has primarly been limited to rather poor areas of the country and primarily in the form of bombings. Most likely due to the targets hit (poor and not middle class or well to do) the Indian government did not overly concern itself with creating a more powerful anti terrorism force. Now that their financial capital has been hit we might see a change in policy. As for sieg6529's comment, India needs and has needed an elite antiterrorism force. Only a fool would not recognize the fact that one of the largest terrorist producing states in that region is right next door and not exactly friendly towards the majority of the Indian Hindu population. Mumbai basically created a situation where a whole lot of sheep were crowded into a very small pen with very few sheep dogs to keep it safe. Terrorists like this hit the softest easiest targets they can find that will result in the largest amount of carnage possible. Mumbai was the perfect target for such an operation. And it went off almost perfectly from a terrorism stand point and almost completely a failure on the counter terrorism front.
- - Reply
  - Report Abuse
  Posted By: daplane @ 12/03/2008 10:23:57 PM
  
  Some well made points, but even if the Indians had an A1 commando force, they would have done little to stop the deaths of most of the innocents. This was a terrorist version of "Shock & Awe" where they came in with the sole purpose of killing as many people as possible as fast as possible. As long as scum like these have the finanacial (and sometimes tactical) backing of groups like AQ or, in this case, the ISI, it's going to be impossible to stop the "hit & run/die" mentality of these morons, as made obvious during 9/11, Madrid, the Kenyan/Tanzanian Embassy, British bus bombings. The sad, and scary, part is that what happened in Mumbai could happen in any city in world with similar casualties, including New York or Tel Aviv.

- Reply
- Report Abuse
Posted By: timothyone @ 12/03/2008 7:47:19 PM

Criticism must be the Jewish form of sympathy when expressed for those other than God's chosen few. We're simply not worthy of empathy or pity. Now can you understand how the captive Palestinian must feel. Please don't call me anti-Semitic, I would write the same about any person or group who behaves similarly, and do so on a regular basis. Just ask God's chosen to begin to act more like such. You can't claim to be better and then act like this and expect God's unchaste to approve. Even scum like me know right from wrong.

Posted By: ParkHillPosse @ 12/03/2008 6:57:25 PM
- Reply
- Report Abuse
sieg6529: your comments betray your foolishness and lack of historical perspective. Israel has a problem handling its neighbors? I'm confused. Do you mean that Israel should be more accommodating towards its terrorist neighbors Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria, and Hamas in Gaza? Does any country have an easy relationship with contiguous states run by terror groups? Or how about the fact that Israel's neighbors have all tried at one time or another to invade and destroy the state (1948, 1967, 1973, etc.)? Do you not recognize that such dynamics might introduce some hesitancy and skepticism within a state-to-state relationship? Israel's relationship with Jordan is, however, a cause for optimism, which you seem to completely overlook. In the case of Israel and India, there is a natural relationship between Jews and Hindus (with both groups experiencing the murderous sword of fanatical Muslim ideologies), and Jews and Muslims within India have great relations. It's natural that any state would need to clear the air of bad feelings after its citizens were murdered in a botched rescue (the same dynamic occurred between Israel and Germany after the Munich massacre). The airing of grievances (or "grumbling" as you called it) is a natural process after any stressful occurrence, and the relationship between Israel and India will not be adversely impacted, especially given Israel's technology and counter-terror expertise. But your comments lack any sense of insight or perspective on the Middle East or South Asia. Go do your homework, ace.

- Reply
- Report Abuse
Posted By: Westcoast @ 12/03/2008 6:52:17 PM

Unprecedented? This sort of event has happened in pretty much every middle eastern country. It happened in Mumbai over a decade ago and again just a few years ago. I don't think the Israelis were referring to the tragic event as a whole but rather the botched rescue attempt at the Jewish center. I do think the Indian forces were caught off-guard since their tactics seemed pretty much plan-as-you-go type but given the situation on the ground I think they did as best they could in order to presserve lives and contain the situation. It's unfortunate it didn't save the lives of the 180+ innocent people. May those innocent victims rest in peace.

- Reply
- Report Abuse
Posted By: sieg6529 @ 12/03/2008 5:27:02 PM

Not up to Israeli standards? Look, not every country has compulsory military service and they certainly don't normally have a need for the type of elites that Israel believes are necessary to keep it safe. India has long had a rough relationship with Pakistan, but they have no need for such elite training because they aren't surrounded by countries that have warred with them in recent decades. What can Israel hope to gain by even grumbling about the way things were handled? I would certainly ask them how well they've managed relations with their own neighbors (not very well).