another very long and very interesting article
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Don’t miss Sandip Roy’s article at the bottom of this report, arguing that the gun-toting, Versacet-shirt-wearing assailant whose image was beamed across the world at the start of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai who could as easily have been one of the victims as one of the terrorists.
The coordinated nighttime assault against seven major targets in Mumbai is reminiscent of the 1993 bombings that devastated the Bombay Stock Exchange. The recent attack bears the fingerprints of the same criminal mastermind – meticulous preparation, ruthless execution and the absence of claims or demands.
The eerie silence that accompanied the blasts are the very signature of Ibrahim Dawood, now a multi-millionaire owner of a construction company in Karachi, Pakistan. His is hardly a household name around the world like Osama bin Laden. Across South Asia, however, Dawood is held in awe and, in a twist on morals, admired for his belated conversion from crime boss to self-styled avenger.
His rise to the highest rungs of India’s underworld began from the most unlikely position as the diligent son of a police constable in the populous commercial capital then known as Bombay.
http://www.alternet.org/audits/109061/did_a_criminal_mastermind_stage_mumbai_nightmare/
“...could as easily have been one of the victims as one of the terrorists.”
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OPINION:
Yes, and that is exactly why when bringing “victims” out of a hostage situation; that all “hostages” id’s should be checked and names run in leo’s computer systems before anyone is cleared to leave the area.
ADDING to your post no. 2490, West Coast Gal:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mumbai/Attack_enabled_by_D_gang_Cops/articleshow/3766908.cms
“Attack enabled by D gang: Cops”
28 Nov 2008, 0035 hrs IST, S Balakrishnan, TNN
MUMBAI:
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “The Times Of India was the first to report (July 2, 2008) about the emergence of Ali as the key person looking after Dawood’s operations in Mumbai. Despite having a detailed dossier on him, the authorities have not taken any action against him. What is more worrying is that Ali is believed to have also penetrated naval intelligence.”
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Dawood is holed up in Karachi and has been declared a global terrorist by the US administration. He is known to have links with the Al Qaeda and had used its network for narcotics smuggling operations out of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The fidayeens appeared to have been very clear about their targets. They targeted places frequented by foreigners in south Mumbai and knew the exact route to be taken from the coast. This was made possible by inputs provided by the D Gang, said sources.
Sources in security agencies said Dawood has made a few thousand crores in real estate transactions and is diverting a part of the funds for terror operations. The Dawood Bhai realty group has a top politician and a big-time builder as its partners. A close lieutenant of Dawood fronts for this company to get its projects cleared in Mantralaya and BMC. Currently, it is building a huge mall and a massive residential complex in the western suburbs. This frontman recently transferred Rs 120 crore in one go through hawala to Dawood, sources said.”
Interesting. Gary Colson just stated this has all the earmarks of Ibrahim Dawood. If, as suspected, he is located in Karachi (why does Pakistan insist on hiding all the terrorism leaders anyway?) and these terrorists came down from Karachi this does make sense.