The center of gravity of this attack WAS the Taj...all other attacks were diversions.
And the Taj wasn't picked as a hotel to take hostages from....it was picked because it is a symbol to inflict as much psychological pain on the Indian psyche as the Towers falling did to us on 9/11.
The surviving terrorists in the Taj right now are in a delaying action to hold out long enough for that fire to really catch hold ...while that building burns to the ground.
That visual is what the planners wanted here.
Hotel was built around turn of the century, late 1890’s - opened in 1903?
Wonder how well it will hold up in a prolonged fire with older engineering...
That is certainly a large part of AQ’s planning equation.
They also tried to hit US evening news just in time to commandeer the whole hour with lurid video of carnage.
They failed there, IMO, at least on the broadcast networks. Top billing, but less than five minutes before the drive-by media moved on.
The full implications, and the general order of magnitude of the body count, have yet to permeate thick media brains.
Sometimes stupid reporters work for our benefit.