Mark Steyn: Mumbai could happen just about anywhere

Orange County Register ^ | November 28, 2008 | Mark Steyn

[NCjim]

When terrorists attack, media analysts go into Sherlock Holmes mode, metaphorically prowling the crime scene for footprints, as if the way to solve the mystery is to add up all the clues. The Mumbai gunmen seized British and American tourists. Therefore, it must be an attack on Westerners!

Not so, said Newsweek's Fareed Zakaria. If they'd wanted to do that, they'd have hit the Hilton or the Marriott or some other target-rich chain hotel. The Taj and the Oberoi are both Indian-owned, and popular watering holes with wealthy Indians.

OK, how about this group that's claimed responsibility for the attack? The Deccan Mujahideen. As a thousand TV anchors asked Wednesday night, "What do we know about them?"

Er, well, nothing. Because they didn't exist until they issued the press release. "Deccan" is the name of the vast plateau that covers most of the triangular peninsula that forms the lower half of the Indian subcontinent. It comes from the Prakrit word "dakkhin," which means "south." Which means nothing at all. "Deccan Mujahedeen" is like calling yourself the "Continental Shelf Liberation Front."

[moreofthesame]

” The problem with Pakistan is that we only have two options. Keep them close and on a very short leash.”

The “short leash policy”, if that meant making a “front running ally” out of the world's greatest terrorist state, passing them military hardware and billions of dollars of financial aid and effectively subsidizing their jihad against India.......obviously I guess it worked.

Again thank you America and President Bush for bringing about this day.

[Cicero]

Penn Station was sanitized fairly soon after 9/11, and they recurrently send police or armed troops to guard it when there is reason for an alert.

They blocked off the taxi road that goes under the two parts of the complex, which used to be used to pick up passengers from the trains or the stadium, to prevent anyone from driving a truck bomb in there.

All of this was pretty obvious, since I commuted through Penn Station for a number of years before and after 9/11.

Most government buildings in the city were also protected from truck bombers with concrete guard posts along the curbs. But there are still plenty of crowded places in most cities that are not really well protected. You can’t easily protect everything that way.

[romanesq]

I’m never comfortable near there or the Port Authority. But Penn Station especially, can’t say why.

[Cicero]

Agreed. I felt the same way.

[Paladin2]

"I'm old enough to remember when getting on an airplane involved nothing more than buying a ticket and walking on"

Actually, on the Eastern Shuttle, all you had to do was walk on. One bought one's ticket while in the air.

[Palladin]

“Joe Biden was confused and couldn’t find India on a map.”

Ah, yes...Bigmouth Joe. Where the heck is he, our great foreign policy expert? Not a peep out of him on the Mumbai incident.

[Clemenza]

I agree with your post, but Arabs only comprise 18-22% of the world’s Muslims. Being “Arab looking” is not enough (many folks of Italian, Spanish and Portuguese ancestry have Arab blood, and there are many Arab Christians). RELIGIOUS profiling is what is needed (as well as looking at folks from countries known as terrorist supporting).

[Revolting cat!]

The Islamic imperialist project is a totalitarian ideology: It is at war with Hindus, Jews, Americans, Britons, everything that is other.

There it is, as plain as the nose on anyone's face (except Jacko's), the simple truth that MSM will avoid even if they have to go bankrupt.

[econjack]

Good point.

[Rembrandt]

“Our gov’t and the ACLU is going to politically-correct you and I into an early grave.”

The ACLU is nothing more or less than the first wave of the enemy invasion. Once they have softened us up and gotten us to the point where we second guess ourselves in each and every situation, we are very easy prey.

[JulieRNR21]

Thanks for the PING.....no one says it better than Steyn!

[moreofthesame]

““America” does not “protect” Pakistan, although our insane State Dept. and our Washington DC government weenies often say and do things that even we the people cannot understand or support.”

Regardless of how you put it, the net effect is that America is consistently and whole heartedly supporting Pakistan in her terrorism against India. Period. End of the story.

[grey_whiskers]

"Since Sept. 30, 2008".

I see you're already getting the hang of complaining about biased press coverage!

Welcome to Free Republic!

[COUNTrecount]

On please and thanks.

[KayEyeDoubleDee]

The early Christian's did much murdering,converting,and enslaving

Oh yeah?

Care to offer some citations to bolster that assertion?

[PapaBear3625]

Once they are through that gate, they have complete access to the tarmac. They could then pass out weapons or whatever to the food caters, mechanics, or whomever, to cache their weapons. All TSA has done is make it less fun to fly, at a cost of billions to American tax payers.

There was some evidence that the box cutters that the 9/11 hijackers used had been pre-cached by somebody servicing the airplane