The Mumbai terror attacks were part of a carefully planned and coordinated
operation involving several teams of experienced and trained gunmen.
The operation has the fingerprints of a paramilitary-intelligence operation.
According to a Russian counter terrorist expert, the Mumbai terrorists "used
the same tactics that Chechen field militants employed in the Northern
Caucasus attacks where entire towns were terrorized, with homes and
hospitals seized".
operation involving several teams of experienced and trained gunmen.
The operation has the fingerprints of a paramilitary-intelligence operation.
According to a Russian counter terrorist expert, the Mumbai terrorists "used
the same tactics that Chechen field militants employed in the Northern
Caucasus attacks where entire towns were terrorized, with homes and
hospitals seized".
Members of Indian security forces taking up firing positions outsid of Taj Hotel
Ahmed Shuja Pasha, Ashfaq Kayani and Michael Mullen on the USS Abraham Lincoln.
District map of NWFP and FATA.
The Mumbai terror attacks were part of a carefully planned and coordinated
operation involving several teams of experienced and trained gunmen.
The operation has the fingerprints of a paramilitary-intelligence operation.
According to a Russian counter terrorist expert, the Mumbai terrorists "used
the same tactics that Chechen field militants employed in the Northern
Caucasus attacks where entire towns were terrorized, with homes and
hospitals seized". (Russia Today, November 27, 2008).
The Mumbai attacks are described as "India's 9/11".
The attacks were carried out simultaneously in several locations, within
minutes of each other.
The first target was in the main hall of Mumbai's Chatrapati Shivaji
Terminus railway station (CST), where the gunmen fired indiscriminately into
the crowd of passengers. The gunmen " then ran out of the station and into
neighboring buildings, including Cama Hospital"
Attacks by separate groups of gunmen took place at two of Mumbai's luxury
hotels - the Oberoi-Trident and the Taj Mahal Palace, located at the heart
of the tourist area, within proximity of the Gateway of India.
The gunmen also opened fire at Café Leopold, a stylish restaurant in the
tourist area. The third target was Nariman House, a business center which
houses Chabad Lubavitch, Mumbai's Jewish Center. Six hostages including the
Rabbi and his wife were killed.
The domestic airport at Santa Cruz; the Metro Adlabs multiplex and the
Mazgaon Dockyard were also targeted.
"The attacks occurred at the busiest places. Besides hotels and hospitals,
terrorists struck at railway stations, Crawford Market, Wadi Bunder and on
the Western Express Highway near the airport. Seven places have been
attacked with automatic weapons and grenades.(Times of India, 26 November
2008 [1] ),
Indian troops surrounded the hotels. Indian Special Forces commandos were
sent into the two hotels to confront the terrorists. Witnesses at the hotels
said that the gunmen were singling out people with US and British passports.
Casualties, according to reports, are in excess of 150 killed. Most of those
killed were Indian nationals, many of whom died in the attack on the
Chhatrapati Shivaji railway Terminus.
At least 22 foreigners were killed in the attacks. Fourteen police officers,
including the chief of the anti-terror squad, were killed in the attacks.
Who was Behind the Attacks?
A virtually unknown group called "the Deccan Mujahideen", has according to
reports, claimed responsibility for attacks. The Deccan Plateau refers to a
region of central-Southern India largely centered in the State of Andhra
Pradesh. This unknown group has already been categorized, without supporting
evidence, as belonging to the Al Qaeda network of terrorist organizations.
Police reports confirm that nine "suspected attackers" have been arrested
and three of the attackers have, according to unconfirmed police sources,
confessed to belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba [Lashkar-e-Tayyiba], a Pakistani
Kasmiri separatist organization, covertly supported by Pakistani military
intelligence (ISI). At least one of the arrested, according to the reports,
is a British citizen of Pakistani descent.
In chorus, both the Western and Indian media are pointing fingers at
Pakistan and its alleged support of Islamic terrorist organizations:
"Strategic gurus and security analysts in the US and from across the world
are examining Pakistan's role in terrorism following yet another terror
episode in India ending with fingers pointed at its widely-reviled neighbor.
While initial reports from India suggested the Mumbai carnage was a
localized attack by militant malcontents in India because of the "Deccan
Mujahideen" decoy that was used to claim responsibility, evidence cited by
Indian army and security experts based on phone intercepts, nature of
weaponry, mode of entry by sea etc., has quickly focused the attention on
Pakistan." (Times of India, November 27, 2008)
The US media has centered its attention on the links between the Mumbai
attacks and the "resurgent terrorist groups [which] enjoy havens in
Pakistan's tribal areas as well as alleged protection or support from
elements of Pakistani intelligence." (Washington Post, November 28, 2008).
"Clash of Civilizations"
In Europe and North America, the Mumbai attacks by Islamic fundamentalists
are perceived as part of the "Clash of Civilizations". "Militant Islam is
involved in a war against civilization".
The dramatic loss of lives resulting from the attacks has indelibly
contributed to reinforcing anti-Muslim sentiment throughout the Western
World.
The outlines of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, are becoming clear.
The terrorists targeted India, the U.S. and Britain, and the Jewish people.
(Market Watch, November 28, 2008 [2])
According to the media, the enemy is Al Qaeda, the illusory "outside enemy "
which has its operational bases in the tribal areas and North West Frontier
Province of Pakistan. Washington's self-proclaimed holy mandate under the
"Global War on Terrorism" is to take out bin Laden and extirpate Islamic
fundamentalism.
America's right to intervene militarily inside Pakistan in violation of
Pakistan's sovereignty is therefore upheld. Bombing villages in the tribal
areas of North West Pakistan is part of a "humanitarian endeavor", in
response to the loss of life resulting from the Mumbai attacks:
"Before these awful raids, news from South Asia had been encouraging. The
central problem remains pacifying Afghanistan, where U.S. and other NATO
forces struggle to stamp out Taliban and al-Qaeda elements." (Washington
Post, November 28, 2008)
"Washington, however, wants the Pakistani army's cooperation in fighting
terrorism. In recent weeks, U.S. officers in Afghanistan reported better
results, crediting the Pakistanis with taking the offensive against the
Taliban on Pakistani territory."
Media Disinformation
US network TV has extensively covered the dramatic events in Mumbai. The
attacks have served to trigger an atmosphere of fear and intimidation across
America.
The Mumbai attacks are said to be intimately related to 9/11. Official US
statements and media reports have described the Mumbai attacks as part of a
broader process, including the possibility of an Al Qaeda sponsored
terrorist attack on US soil.
Vice President Elect Joe Biden during the election campaign had warned
America with foresight that "the people who... attacked us on 9/11, --
they've regrouped in the mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan and are
plotting new attacks". (emphasis added)
These are the same people who were behind the terror attacks in Mumbai.
These are also the same people who are planning to attack America.
Immediately following the Mumbai attacks, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg
put New York City's subway system "on high alert" based on "an
unsubstantiated report of potential terrorism here in New York. This report
led the New York Police Department to take precautionary steps to protect
our transit system, and we will always do whatever is necessary to keep our
city safe," Bloomberg said in a statement" (McClatchy-Tribune Business News,
November 28, 2008, emphasis added).
It just so happens that one day before the Mumbai attacks, "the FBI and the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had warned that there is a 'possible
but uncorroborated' Al -Qaeda threat against the New York transportation
system." (Ibid)
"As the attacks in Mumbai were carried out, U.S. authorities issued a
warning that Al-Qaeda might have recently discussed making attacks on the
New York subway system. A vague warning, to be sure. 'We have no specific
details to confirm that this plot has developed beyond aspirational
planning, but we are issuing this warning out of concern that such an attack
could possibly be conducted during the forthcoming holiday season,' the FBI
and Department of Homeland Security said." (Chicago Tribune, November 29,
2008)
Pakistan's Military Intelligence is America's Trojan Horse
The media reports point, in chorus, to the involvement of Pakistan's
Military Intelligence, the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), without
mentioning that the ISI invariably operates in close liaison with the CIA.
The US media indelibly serves the interests of the US intelligence
apparatus. The implications of these distorted reports are that:
1. The terrorists are linked to Al Qaeda. The Mumbai attacks are a "State
sponsored" operation involving Pakistan's ISI
2. The Mumbai gunmen have ties to terrorist groups in Pakistan's tribal
areas and North West Frontier Province.
3. The continued bombing of the tribal areas by the US Air Force in
violation of Pakistan's' sovereignty is consequently justified as part of
the "Global War on Terrorism".
The ISI is America's Trojan Horse, a de facto proxy of the CIA. Pakistani
Intelligence has, since the early 1980s, worked in close liaison with its US
and British intelligence counterparts.
Were the ISI to have been involved in a major covert operation directed
against India, the CIA would have prior knowledge regarding the precise
nature and timing of the operation. The ISI does not act without the consent
of its US intelligence counterpart.
Moreover, US intelligence is known to have supported Al Qaeda from the
outset of the Soviet Afghan war and throughout the post-Cold War era. (For
further details see Michel Chossudovsky, Al Qaeda and the War on Terrorism,
[3] Global Research, January 20, 2008)
CIA sponsored guerilla training camps were established in Pakistan to train
the Mujahideen. Historically, US intelligence has supported Al Qaeda, using
Pakistan's ISI as a go-between.
"With CIA backing and the funneling of massive amounts of U.S. military aid,
the Pakistani ISI had developed into a "parallel structure wielding enormous
power over all aspects of government". (Dipankar Banerjee, "Possible
Connection of ISI With Drug Industry", India Abroad, 2 December 1994).
In the wake of 9/11, Pakistan's ISI played a key role in the October 2001
invasion of Afghanistan, in close liaison with the US and NATO military high
command. Ironically, in October 2001, both US and Indian press reports
quoting FBI and intelligence sources, suggested that the ISI was providing
support to the alleged 9/11 terrorists.(See Michel Chossudovsky, Cover-up or
Complicity of the Bush Administration, The Role of Pakistan's Military
Intelligence (ISI) in the September 11 Attacks [4] , Global Research,
November 2, 2001)
Pakistan's Chief Spy Appointed by the CIA
Historically, the CIA has played an unofficial role in the appointment of
the director of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).
In September, Washington pressured Islamabad, using the "war on terrorism"
as a pretext to fire the ISI chief Lieutenant General Nadeem Taj.
"Washington is understood to be exerting intense pressure on Pakistan to
remove ISI boss Nadeem Taj and two of his deputies because of the key
agency's alleged "double-dealing" with the militants. (Daily Times, [5]
September 30, 2008)
President Asif Ali Zardari had meetings in New York in late September with
CIA Director Michael Hayden. (The Australian [6], September 29, 2008),
Barely a few days later, a new US approved ISI chief Lieutenant General
Ahmed Shuja Pasha was appointed by the Chief of the Army, General Kayani, on
behalf of Washington.
In this regard, the pressures exerted by the Bush administration contributed
to blocking a parliamentary initiative led by the PPP government to put the
country's intelligence services (ISI) under civilian authority, namely under
the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Interior.
The U.S. Violates Pakistan's Territorial Sovereignty
The US is currently violating Pakistan territorial sovereignty through the
routine bombing of villages in the tribal areas and the North West Frontier
Province. These operations are carried out using the "war on terrorism" as a
pretext. While the Pakistani government has "officially" accused the US of
waging aerial bombardments on its territory, Pakistan's military (including
the ISI) has "unofficially" endorsed the air strikes.
In this regard, the timely appointment of Lt. General Ahmed Shuja Pasha to
the helm of the ISI was intended to ensure continuity in US
"counter-terrorism" operations in Pakistan. Prior to his appointment as ISI
chief, Lt. General Ahmed Shuja Pasha was responsible, in close consultation
with the US and NATO, for carrying out targeted attacks allegedly against
the Taliban and Al Qaeda by the Pakistani military in the Federally
Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the North-West Frontier Province
(NWFP).
Upon his appointment, Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha implemented a major reshuffle
within the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), replacing several of the ISI
regional commanders. ( Daily Times, [5] September 30, 2008). In late
October, he was in Washington, at CIA headquarters at Langley and at the
Pentagon, to meet his US military and intelligence counterparts:
"Pakistan is publicly complaining about U.S. air strikes. But the country's
new chief of intelligence, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, visited Washington
last week for talks with America's top military and spy chiefs, and everyone
seemed to come away smiling." (David Ignatieff, A Quiet Deal With Pakistan,
Washington Post, November 4, 2008 [7] , emphasis added).
The Timing of the Mumbai Attacks
The US air strikes on the Tribal Areas resulting in countless civilians
deaths have created a wave of anti-US sentiment throughout Pakistan. At the
same token, this anti-American sentiment has also served, in the months
preceding the Mumbai attacks, to promote a renewed atmosphere of cooperation
between India and Pakistan.
While US-Pakistan relations are at an all time low, there were significant
efforts, in recent months, by the Islamabad and Delhi governments to foster
bilateral relations.
Barely a week prior to the attacks, Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari
"urged opening the Kashmir issue to public debate in India and Pakistan and
letting the people decide the future of IHK."
He also called for "taking bilateral relations to a new level" as well as
forging an economic union between the two countries.
Divide and Rule
What interests are served by these attacks?
Washington is intent on using the Mumbai attacks to:
1) Foster divisions between Pakistan and India and shunt the process of
bilateral cooperation and trade between the two countries;
2) Promote internal social, ethnic and sectarian divisions in both India and
Pakistan;
3) Justify US military actions inside Pakistan including the killing of
civilians in violation of the country's territorial sovereignty;
4) Provide a justification for extending the US led "war on terrorism" into
the Indian sub-continent and South East Asia.
In 2006, the Pentagon had warned that "another [major 9/11 type terrorist]
attack could create both a justification and an opportunity that is lacking
today to retaliate against some known targets" (Statement by Pentagon
official, leaked to the Washington Post, 23 April 2006). In the current
context, the Mumbai attacks are considered "a justification" to go after
"known targets" in the tribal areas of North Western Pakistan.
India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has stated that "external forces"
forces carried the attacks, hinting to the possible role of Pakistan. The
media reports also point in that direction, hinting that the Pakistani
government is behind the attacks:
US officials and lawmakers refrained from naming Pakistan, but their
condemnation of "Islamist terrorism" left little doubt where their anxieties
lay.
....
What has added potency to the latest charges against Islamabad is the Bush
administration's own assessment - leaked to the US media - that Pakistan's
intelligence agency ISI was linked to the bombing of the Indian Embassy in
Kabul some weeks back that killed nearly 60 people including a much-admired
Indian diplomat and a respected senior defense official. (Times of India,
November 27, 2008)
The Attacks have Triggered Anti-Pakistani Sentiment in India
The attacks have served to foster anti-Pakistani sentiment within India as
well as sectarian divisions between Hindus and Muslims.
Time Magazine [9] has pointed in no uncertain terms to the insidious role of
"the powerful Inter Services Intelligence organization -- often accused of
orchestrating terror attacks on India", without acknowledging that the new
head of the ISI was appointed at Washington's behest. (Time online) [8] .
The Time report suggests, without evidence, that the most likely architects
of the attacks are several Pakistani sponsored Islamic groups including
Lashkar-e-Taiba (Army of the Pure), "which is part of the 'al-Qaeda
compact'", Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Kashmiri separatist organization belonging to
Al Qaeda which claimed responsibility in the December 2001 terrorist attacks
on the Union parliament in Delhi and The Students Islamic Movement of India,
(SIMI). (Ibid)
Both Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed are known to be supported by the
ISI.
Islamabad-Delhi Shuttle Diplomacy
Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari indicated that his government would
fully collaborate with the Indian authorities.
Pakistan's newly elected civilian government has been sidetracked by its own
intelligence services, which remain under the jurisdiction of the military
high command.
The Pakistan's People's Party government under the helm of Prime Minister
Yousaf Raza Gilani has no control over the military and intelligence
apparatus, which continues to maintain a close rapport with its US
counterparts. The Pakistani civilian government, in many regards, is not in
control of its foreign policy. The Pakistani Military and its powerful
intelligence arm (ISI) call the shots.
In this context, president Asif Ali Zardari seems to be playing on both
sides: collusion with the Military-Intelligence apparatus, dialogue with
Washington and lip service to prime minister Gilani and the National
Assembly.
On November 28, two days following the Mumbai attacks, Islamabad announced
that the recently appointed ISI chief Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha
would be dispatched to Delhi for consultations with his Indian counterparts
including National Security Advisor M K Narayanan and the heads of India's
external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and the
Intelligence Bureau, responsible for internal intelligence. RAW and
Pakistan's ISI are known to have been waging a covert war against one
another for more than thirty years.1
On the following day (November 29), Islamabad cancelled the visit of ISI
chief Lt Gen Shuja Pasha to India, following Indian foreign minister Pranab
Mukherjee's "very aggressive tone with Pakistani officials [in a] telephone
[conversation] after the Mumbai attacks". (Press Trust of India, November
29, 2008 [9] quoting Geo News Pakistan).
Tense Situation. Deterioration of India-Pakistan Relations
The Mumbai attacks have already created an extremely tense situation, which
largely serves US geopolitical interests in the region.
Islamabad is contemplating the relocation of some 100,000 military personnel
from the Pakistani-Afghan border to the Indian border, "if there is an
escalation in tension with India, which has hinted at the involvement of
Pakistani elements in the Mumbai carnage." (Pakistan news source quoted by
PTI, op cit).
"These sources have said NATO and the US command have been told that
Pakistan would not be able to concentrate on the war on terror and against
militants around the Afghanistan border as defending its borders with India
was far more important," (Ibid, Geo News quoting senior Pakistani journalist
Hamid Mir).
US Interference in the Conduct of the Indian Police Investigation
Also of significance is Washington's outright interference in the conduct of
the Indian police investigation. The Times of India points to an
"unprecedented intelligence cooperation involving investigating agencies and
spy outfits of India, United States, United Kingdom and Israel."
Both the FBI and Britain's Secret Service MI6 have liaison offices in Delhi.
The FBI has dispatched police, counter-terrorism officials and forensic
scientists to Mumbai "to investigate attacks that now include American
victims..." Experts from the London's Metropolitan Police have also been
dispatched to Mumbai:
"The U.S. government's "working assumption" that the Pakistani militant
groups Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed are suspects in the attacks "has
held up" as Indian authorities have begun their investigation, the official
said. The two Kashmiri militant groups have ties to al Qaeda." (Wall Street
Journal, November 28, 2008)
The role of the US-UK-Israeli counter terrorism and police officials, is
essentially to manipulate the results of the Indian police investigation.
It is worth noting, however, that the Delhi government turned down Israel's
request to send a special forces military unit to assist the Indian
commandos in freeing Jewish hostages held inside Mumbai's Chabad Jewish
Center (PTI, November 28, 2008).
Bali 2002 versus Mumbai 2008
The Mumbai terrorist attacks bear certain similarities to the 2002 Bali
attacks. In both cases, Western tourists were targets. The tourist resort of
Kuta on the island of Bali, Indonesia, was the object of two separate
attacks, which targeted mainly Australian tourists. (Ibid)
The alleged terrorists in the Bali 2002 bombings were executed, following a
lengthy trial period, barely a few weeks ago, on November 9, 2008. (Michel
Chossudovsky, Miscarriage of Justice: Who was behind the October 2002 Bali
bombings? [10] Global Research, November 13, 2009). The political architects
of the 2002 Bali attacks were never brought to trial.
A November 2002 report emanating from Indonesia's top brass, pointed to the
involvement of both the head of Indonesian intelligence General A. M.
Hendropriyono as well as the CIA. The links of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) to the
Indonesian intelligence agency (BIN) were never raised in the official
Indonesian government investigation --which was guided behind the scenes by
Australian intelligence and the CIA. Moreover, shortly after the bombing,
Australian Prime Minister John Howard "admitted that Australian authorities
were warned about possible attacks in Bali but chose not to issue a
warning." (Christchurch Press, November 22, 2002).
With regard to the Bali 2002 bombings, the statements of two former
presidents of Indonesia were casually dismissed in the trial procedures,
both of which pointed to complicity of the Indonesian military and police.
In 2002, president Megawati Sukarnoputri, accused the US of involvement in
the attacks. In 2005, in an October 2005 interview with Australia's SBS TV,
former president Wahid Abdurrahman stated that the Indonesian military and
police played a complicit role in the 2002 Bali bombing. (quoted in
Miscarriage of Justice: Who was behind the October 2002 Bali bombings? [10]
, op cit)
Note
1. In recent months, the head of India's external intelligence (RAW), Ashok
Chaturvedi has become a political target. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is
intent upon firing him and replacing him with a more acceptable individual.
It is unclear whether Chaturvedi will be involved in the intelligence and
police investigation.
Global Research Articles by Michel Chossudovsky:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=listByAuthor&authorFirst=Michel&authorName=Chossudovsky
----
End notes:
[1] http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=11184
[2] http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/AJC-Expresses-Grief-Outrage-Over/story.aspx?guid=%7B908F53A9-CE00-4708-9DD0-3CDAC016A21B%7D
[3] http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7718
[4] http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO111A.html
[5] http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008/09/30/story_30-9-2008_pg1_1
[6] http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24415172-2703,00.html
[7] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/03/AR2008110302638.html
[8] http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1862733,00.html?iid=tsmodule
[9] http://www.ptinews.com/pti/ptisite.nsf/0/3A92FD8D6C96C9A66525751000590758?OpenDocument
[10] http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=CHO20081113&articleId=10931
operation involving several teams of experienced and trained gunmen.
The operation has the fingerprints of a paramilitary-intelligence operation.
According to a Russian counter terrorist expert, the Mumbai terrorists "used
the same tactics that Chechen field militants employed in the Northern
Caucasus attacks where entire towns were terrorized, with homes and
hospitals seized". (Russia Today, November 27, 2008).
The Mumbai attacks are described as "India's 9/11".
The attacks were carried out simultaneously in several locations, within
minutes of each other.
The first target was in the main hall of Mumbai's Chatrapati Shivaji
Terminus railway station (CST), where the gunmen fired indiscriminately into
the crowd of passengers. The gunmen " then ran out of the station and into
neighboring buildings, including Cama Hospital"
Attacks by separate groups of gunmen took place at two of Mumbai's luxury
hotels - the Oberoi-Trident and the Taj Mahal Palace, located at the heart
of the tourist area, within proximity of the Gateway of India.
The gunmen also opened fire at Café Leopold, a stylish restaurant in the
tourist area. The third target was Nariman House, a business center which
houses Chabad Lubavitch, Mumbai's Jewish Center. Six hostages including the
Rabbi and his wife were killed.
The domestic airport at Santa Cruz; the Metro Adlabs multiplex and the
Mazgaon Dockyard were also targeted.
"The attacks occurred at the busiest places. Besides hotels and hospitals,
terrorists struck at railway stations, Crawford Market, Wadi Bunder and on
the Western Express Highway near the airport. Seven places have been
attacked with automatic weapons and grenades.(Times of India, 26 November
2008 [1] ),
Indian troops surrounded the hotels. Indian Special Forces commandos were
sent into the two hotels to confront the terrorists. Witnesses at the hotels
said that the gunmen were singling out people with US and British passports.
Casualties, according to reports, are in excess of 150 killed. Most of those
killed were Indian nationals, many of whom died in the attack on the
Chhatrapati Shivaji railway Terminus.
At least 22 foreigners were killed in the attacks. Fourteen police officers,
including the chief of the anti-terror squad, were killed in the attacks.
Who was Behind the Attacks?
A virtually unknown group called "the Deccan Mujahideen", has according to
reports, claimed responsibility for attacks. The Deccan Plateau refers to a
region of central-Southern India largely centered in the State of Andhra
Pradesh. This unknown group has already been categorized, without supporting
evidence, as belonging to the Al Qaeda network of terrorist organizations.
Police reports confirm that nine "suspected attackers" have been arrested
and three of the attackers have, according to unconfirmed police sources,
confessed to belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba [Lashkar-e-Tayyiba], a Pakistani
Kasmiri separatist organization, covertly supported by Pakistani military
intelligence (ISI). At least one of the arrested, according to the reports,
is a British citizen of Pakistani descent.
In chorus, both the Western and Indian media are pointing fingers at
Pakistan and its alleged support of Islamic terrorist organizations:
"Strategic gurus and security analysts in the US and from across the world
are examining Pakistan's role in terrorism following yet another terror
episode in India ending with fingers pointed at its widely-reviled neighbor.
While initial reports from India suggested the Mumbai carnage was a
localized attack by militant malcontents in India because of the "Deccan
Mujahideen" decoy that was used to claim responsibility, evidence cited by
Indian army and security experts based on phone intercepts, nature of
weaponry, mode of entry by sea etc., has quickly focused the attention on
Pakistan." (Times of India, November 27, 2008)
The US media has centered its attention on the links between the Mumbai
attacks and the "resurgent terrorist groups [which] enjoy havens in
Pakistan's tribal areas as well as alleged protection or support from
elements of Pakistani intelligence." (Washington Post, November 28, 2008).
"Clash of Civilizations"
In Europe and North America, the Mumbai attacks by Islamic fundamentalists
are perceived as part of the "Clash of Civilizations". "Militant Islam is
involved in a war against civilization".
The dramatic loss of lives resulting from the attacks has indelibly
contributed to reinforcing anti-Muslim sentiment throughout the Western
World.
The outlines of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, are becoming clear.
The terrorists targeted India, the U.S. and Britain, and the Jewish people.
(Market Watch, November 28, 2008 [2])
According to the media, the enemy is Al Qaeda, the illusory "outside enemy "
which has its operational bases in the tribal areas and North West Frontier
Province of Pakistan. Washington's self-proclaimed holy mandate under the
"Global War on Terrorism" is to take out bin Laden and extirpate Islamic
fundamentalism.
America's right to intervene militarily inside Pakistan in violation of
Pakistan's sovereignty is therefore upheld. Bombing villages in the tribal
areas of North West Pakistan is part of a "humanitarian endeavor", in
response to the loss of life resulting from the Mumbai attacks:
"Before these awful raids, news from South Asia had been encouraging. The
central problem remains pacifying Afghanistan, where U.S. and other NATO
forces struggle to stamp out Taliban and al-Qaeda elements." (Washington
Post, November 28, 2008)
"Washington, however, wants the Pakistani army's cooperation in fighting
terrorism. In recent weeks, U.S. officers in Afghanistan reported better
results, crediting the Pakistanis with taking the offensive against the
Taliban on Pakistani territory."
Media Disinformation
US network TV has extensively covered the dramatic events in Mumbai. The
attacks have served to trigger an atmosphere of fear and intimidation across
America.
The Mumbai attacks are said to be intimately related to 9/11. Official US
statements and media reports have described the Mumbai attacks as part of a
broader process, including the possibility of an Al Qaeda sponsored
terrorist attack on US soil.
Vice President Elect Joe Biden during the election campaign had warned
America with foresight that "the people who... attacked us on 9/11, --
they've regrouped in the mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan and are
plotting new attacks". (emphasis added)
These are the same people who were behind the terror attacks in Mumbai.
These are also the same people who are planning to attack America.
Immediately following the Mumbai attacks, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg
put New York City's subway system "on high alert" based on "an
unsubstantiated report of potential terrorism here in New York. This report
led the New York Police Department to take precautionary steps to protect
our transit system, and we will always do whatever is necessary to keep our
city safe," Bloomberg said in a statement" (McClatchy-Tribune Business News,
November 28, 2008, emphasis added).
It just so happens that one day before the Mumbai attacks, "the FBI and the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had warned that there is a 'possible
but uncorroborated' Al -Qaeda threat against the New York transportation
system." (Ibid)
"As the attacks in Mumbai were carried out, U.S. authorities issued a
warning that Al-Qaeda might have recently discussed making attacks on the
New York subway system. A vague warning, to be sure. 'We have no specific
details to confirm that this plot has developed beyond aspirational
planning, but we are issuing this warning out of concern that such an attack
could possibly be conducted during the forthcoming holiday season,' the FBI
and Department of Homeland Security said." (Chicago Tribune, November 29,
2008)
Pakistan's Military Intelligence is America's Trojan Horse
The media reports point, in chorus, to the involvement of Pakistan's
Military Intelligence, the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), without
mentioning that the ISI invariably operates in close liaison with the CIA.
The US media indelibly serves the interests of the US intelligence
apparatus. The implications of these distorted reports are that:
1. The terrorists are linked to Al Qaeda. The Mumbai attacks are a "State
sponsored" operation involving Pakistan's ISI
2. The Mumbai gunmen have ties to terrorist groups in Pakistan's tribal
areas and North West Frontier Province.
3. The continued bombing of the tribal areas by the US Air Force in
violation of Pakistan's' sovereignty is consequently justified as part of
the "Global War on Terrorism".
The ISI is America's Trojan Horse, a de facto proxy of the CIA. Pakistani
Intelligence has, since the early 1980s, worked in close liaison with its US
and British intelligence counterparts.
Were the ISI to have been involved in a major covert operation directed
against India, the CIA would have prior knowledge regarding the precise
nature and timing of the operation. The ISI does not act without the consent
of its US intelligence counterpart.
Moreover, US intelligence is known to have supported Al Qaeda from the
outset of the Soviet Afghan war and throughout the post-Cold War era. (For
further details see Michel Chossudovsky, Al Qaeda and the War on Terrorism,
[3] Global Research, January 20, 2008)
CIA sponsored guerilla training camps were established in Pakistan to train
the Mujahideen. Historically, US intelligence has supported Al Qaeda, using
Pakistan's ISI as a go-between.
"With CIA backing and the funneling of massive amounts of U.S. military aid,
the Pakistani ISI had developed into a "parallel structure wielding enormous
power over all aspects of government". (Dipankar Banerjee, "Possible
Connection of ISI With Drug Industry", India Abroad, 2 December 1994).
In the wake of 9/11, Pakistan's ISI played a key role in the October 2001
invasion of Afghanistan, in close liaison with the US and NATO military high
command. Ironically, in October 2001, both US and Indian press reports
quoting FBI and intelligence sources, suggested that the ISI was providing
support to the alleged 9/11 terrorists.(See Michel Chossudovsky, Cover-up or
Complicity of the Bush Administration, The Role of Pakistan's Military
Intelligence (ISI) in the September 11 Attacks [4] , Global Research,
November 2, 2001)
Pakistan's Chief Spy Appointed by the CIA
Historically, the CIA has played an unofficial role in the appointment of
the director of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).
In September, Washington pressured Islamabad, using the "war on terrorism"
as a pretext to fire the ISI chief Lieutenant General Nadeem Taj.
"Washington is understood to be exerting intense pressure on Pakistan to
remove ISI boss Nadeem Taj and two of his deputies because of the key
agency's alleged "double-dealing" with the militants. (Daily Times, [5]
September 30, 2008)
President Asif Ali Zardari had meetings in New York in late September with
CIA Director Michael Hayden. (The Australian [6], September 29, 2008),
Barely a few days later, a new US approved ISI chief Lieutenant General
Ahmed Shuja Pasha was appointed by the Chief of the Army, General Kayani, on
behalf of Washington.
In this regard, the pressures exerted by the Bush administration contributed
to blocking a parliamentary initiative led by the PPP government to put the
country's intelligence services (ISI) under civilian authority, namely under
the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Interior.
The U.S. Violates Pakistan's Territorial Sovereignty
The US is currently violating Pakistan territorial sovereignty through the
routine bombing of villages in the tribal areas and the North West Frontier
Province. These operations are carried out using the "war on terrorism" as a
pretext. While the Pakistani government has "officially" accused the US of
waging aerial bombardments on its territory, Pakistan's military (including
the ISI) has "unofficially" endorsed the air strikes.
In this regard, the timely appointment of Lt. General Ahmed Shuja Pasha to
the helm of the ISI was intended to ensure continuity in US
"counter-terrorism" operations in Pakistan. Prior to his appointment as ISI
chief, Lt. General Ahmed Shuja Pasha was responsible, in close consultation
with the US and NATO, for carrying out targeted attacks allegedly against
the Taliban and Al Qaeda by the Pakistani military in the Federally
Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the North-West Frontier Province
(NWFP).
Upon his appointment, Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha implemented a major reshuffle
within the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), replacing several of the ISI
regional commanders. ( Daily Times, [5] September 30, 2008). In late
October, he was in Washington, at CIA headquarters at Langley and at the
Pentagon, to meet his US military and intelligence counterparts:
"Pakistan is publicly complaining about U.S. air strikes. But the country's
new chief of intelligence, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, visited Washington
last week for talks with America's top military and spy chiefs, and everyone
seemed to come away smiling." (David Ignatieff, A Quiet Deal With Pakistan,
Washington Post, November 4, 2008 [7] , emphasis added).
The Timing of the Mumbai Attacks
The US air strikes on the Tribal Areas resulting in countless civilians
deaths have created a wave of anti-US sentiment throughout Pakistan. At the
same token, this anti-American sentiment has also served, in the months
preceding the Mumbai attacks, to promote a renewed atmosphere of cooperation
between India and Pakistan.
While US-Pakistan relations are at an all time low, there were significant
efforts, in recent months, by the Islamabad and Delhi governments to foster
bilateral relations.
Barely a week prior to the attacks, Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari
"urged opening the Kashmir issue to public debate in India and Pakistan and
letting the people decide the future of IHK."
He also called for "taking bilateral relations to a new level" as well as
forging an economic union between the two countries.
Divide and Rule
What interests are served by these attacks?
Washington is intent on using the Mumbai attacks to:
1) Foster divisions between Pakistan and India and shunt the process of
bilateral cooperation and trade between the two countries;
2) Promote internal social, ethnic and sectarian divisions in both India and
Pakistan;
3) Justify US military actions inside Pakistan including the killing of
civilians in violation of the country's territorial sovereignty;
4) Provide a justification for extending the US led "war on terrorism" into
the Indian sub-continent and South East Asia.
In 2006, the Pentagon had warned that "another [major 9/11 type terrorist]
attack could create both a justification and an opportunity that is lacking
today to retaliate against some known targets" (Statement by Pentagon
official, leaked to the Washington Post, 23 April 2006). In the current
context, the Mumbai attacks are considered "a justification" to go after
"known targets" in the tribal areas of North Western Pakistan.
India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has stated that "external forces"
forces carried the attacks, hinting to the possible role of Pakistan. The
media reports also point in that direction, hinting that the Pakistani
government is behind the attacks:
US officials and lawmakers refrained from naming Pakistan, but their
condemnation of "Islamist terrorism" left little doubt where their anxieties
lay.
....
What has added potency to the latest charges against Islamabad is the Bush
administration's own assessment - leaked to the US media - that Pakistan's
intelligence agency ISI was linked to the bombing of the Indian Embassy in
Kabul some weeks back that killed nearly 60 people including a much-admired
Indian diplomat and a respected senior defense official. (Times of India,
November 27, 2008)
The Attacks have Triggered Anti-Pakistani Sentiment in India
The attacks have served to foster anti-Pakistani sentiment within India as
well as sectarian divisions between Hindus and Muslims.
Time Magazine [9] has pointed in no uncertain terms to the insidious role of
"the powerful Inter Services Intelligence organization -- often accused of
orchestrating terror attacks on India", without acknowledging that the new
head of the ISI was appointed at Washington's behest. (Time online) [8] .
The Time report suggests, without evidence, that the most likely architects
of the attacks are several Pakistani sponsored Islamic groups including
Lashkar-e-Taiba (Army of the Pure), "which is part of the 'al-Qaeda
compact'", Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Kashmiri separatist organization belonging to
Al Qaeda which claimed responsibility in the December 2001 terrorist attacks
on the Union parliament in Delhi and The Students Islamic Movement of India,
(SIMI). (Ibid)
Both Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed are known to be supported by the
ISI.
Islamabad-Delhi Shuttle Diplomacy
Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari indicated that his government would
fully collaborate with the Indian authorities.
Pakistan's newly elected civilian government has been sidetracked by its own
intelligence services, which remain under the jurisdiction of the military
high command.
The Pakistan's People's Party government under the helm of Prime Minister
Yousaf Raza Gilani has no control over the military and intelligence
apparatus, which continues to maintain a close rapport with its US
counterparts. The Pakistani civilian government, in many regards, is not in
control of its foreign policy. The Pakistani Military and its powerful
intelligence arm (ISI) call the shots.
In this context, president Asif Ali Zardari seems to be playing on both
sides: collusion with the Military-Intelligence apparatus, dialogue with
Washington and lip service to prime minister Gilani and the National
Assembly.
On November 28, two days following the Mumbai attacks, Islamabad announced
that the recently appointed ISI chief Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha
would be dispatched to Delhi for consultations with his Indian counterparts
including National Security Advisor M K Narayanan and the heads of India's
external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and the
Intelligence Bureau, responsible for internal intelligence. RAW and
Pakistan's ISI are known to have been waging a covert war against one
another for more than thirty years.1
On the following day (November 29), Islamabad cancelled the visit of ISI
chief Lt Gen Shuja Pasha to India, following Indian foreign minister Pranab
Mukherjee's "very aggressive tone with Pakistani officials [in a] telephone
[conversation] after the Mumbai attacks". (Press Trust of India, November
29, 2008 [9] quoting Geo News Pakistan).
Tense Situation. Deterioration of India-Pakistan Relations
The Mumbai attacks have already created an extremely tense situation, which
largely serves US geopolitical interests in the region.
Islamabad is contemplating the relocation of some 100,000 military personnel
from the Pakistani-Afghan border to the Indian border, "if there is an
escalation in tension with India, which has hinted at the involvement of
Pakistani elements in the Mumbai carnage." (Pakistan news source quoted by
PTI, op cit).
"These sources have said NATO and the US command have been told that
Pakistan would not be able to concentrate on the war on terror and against
militants around the Afghanistan border as defending its borders with India
was far more important," (Ibid, Geo News quoting senior Pakistani journalist
Hamid Mir).
US Interference in the Conduct of the Indian Police Investigation
Also of significance is Washington's outright interference in the conduct of
the Indian police investigation. The Times of India points to an
"unprecedented intelligence cooperation involving investigating agencies and
spy outfits of India, United States, United Kingdom and Israel."
Both the FBI and Britain's Secret Service MI6 have liaison offices in Delhi.
The FBI has dispatched police, counter-terrorism officials and forensic
scientists to Mumbai "to investigate attacks that now include American
victims..." Experts from the London's Metropolitan Police have also been
dispatched to Mumbai:
"The U.S. government's "working assumption" that the Pakistani militant
groups Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed are suspects in the attacks "has
held up" as Indian authorities have begun their investigation, the official
said. The two Kashmiri militant groups have ties to al Qaeda." (Wall Street
Journal, November 28, 2008)
The role of the US-UK-Israeli counter terrorism and police officials, is
essentially to manipulate the results of the Indian police investigation.
It is worth noting, however, that the Delhi government turned down Israel's
request to send a special forces military unit to assist the Indian
commandos in freeing Jewish hostages held inside Mumbai's Chabad Jewish
Center (PTI, November 28, 2008).
Bali 2002 versus Mumbai 2008
The Mumbai terrorist attacks bear certain similarities to the 2002 Bali
attacks. In both cases, Western tourists were targets. The tourist resort of
Kuta on the island of Bali, Indonesia, was the object of two separate
attacks, which targeted mainly Australian tourists. (Ibid)
The alleged terrorists in the Bali 2002 bombings were executed, following a
lengthy trial period, barely a few weeks ago, on November 9, 2008. (Michel
Chossudovsky, Miscarriage of Justice: Who was behind the October 2002 Bali
bombings? [10] Global Research, November 13, 2009). The political architects
of the 2002 Bali attacks were never brought to trial.
A November 2002 report emanating from Indonesia's top brass, pointed to the
involvement of both the head of Indonesian intelligence General A. M.
Hendropriyono as well as the CIA. The links of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) to the
Indonesian intelligence agency (BIN) were never raised in the official
Indonesian government investigation --which was guided behind the scenes by
Australian intelligence and the CIA. Moreover, shortly after the bombing,
Australian Prime Minister John Howard "admitted that Australian authorities
were warned about possible attacks in Bali but chose not to issue a
warning." (Christchurch Press, November 22, 2002).
With regard to the Bali 2002 bombings, the statements of two former
presidents of Indonesia were casually dismissed in the trial procedures,
both of which pointed to complicity of the Indonesian military and police.
In 2002, president Megawati Sukarnoputri, accused the US of involvement in
the attacks. In 2005, in an October 2005 interview with Australia's SBS TV,
former president Wahid Abdurrahman stated that the Indonesian military and
police played a complicit role in the 2002 Bali bombing. (quoted in
Miscarriage of Justice: Who was behind the October 2002 Bali bombings? [10]
, op cit)
Note
1. In recent months, the head of India's external intelligence (RAW), Ashok
Chaturvedi has become a political target. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is
intent upon firing him and replacing him with a more acceptable individual.
It is unclear whether Chaturvedi will be involved in the intelligence and
police investigation.
Global Research Articles by Michel Chossudovsky:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=listByAuthor&authorFirst=Michel&authorName=Chossudovsky ----
End notes:
[1]
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=11184 [2]
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/AJC-Expresses-Grief-Outrage-Over/story.aspx?guid=%7B908F53A9-CE00-4708-9DD0-3CDAC016A21B%7D [3]
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7718 [4]
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO111A.html [5]
http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008/09/30/story_30-9-2008_pg1_1 [6]
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24415172-2703,00.html [7]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/03/AR2008110302638.html [8]
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1862733,00.html?iid=tsmodule [9]
http://www.ptinews.com/pti/ptisite.nsf/0/3A92FD8D6C96C9A66525751000590758?OpenDocument [10]
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=CHO20081113&articleId=10931
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