Bombay Attacked: Keep An Eye On This
Yes, I am calling for people to keep a close eye on this attack. Binny Sabharwal, correspondant for the Wall Street Journal happened to be at the epicenter of the attacks, and reported on it from India:
I left The Wall Street Journal office about five minutes before 6 p.m. local time and boarded a train at Church Gate station, heading home to my apartment in a western suburb of Mumbai. I went to the ladies' compartment and stood among other passengers, waiting for a seat to open.
Just before Mahim station, I found one and sat down.
Moments later, I heard a huge explosion from another train passing on the next track. Our train shook violently. We came to a sudden halt and then I watched a thick cloud of smoke appear. A couple of girls standing near the doors said they saw the other train's roof blown off. Debris floated everywhere. Then I heard a middle-age woman say, "Thank God, it wasn't our train." We all knew it was a bomb, but nobody knew that a series of blasts were erupting in trains across the city, killing at least 147 people. We all began calling on our mobile phones, jamming up cellular networks.
After a pause, our train began to roll again, proceeding slowly to the next station – as if in a daze. We all got off at the next station. I flagged an auto rickshaw to take me home.
Near my apartment, I went to check out the Khar station, site of a separate bomb blast. A ten-minute walk from there, another explosion occurred near the Santa Cruz station. Volunteers from nearby colleges and neighborhood residents went down to the tracks to help out and distribute water. Some people linked arms, making a human chain to prevent more people from coming to the bomb site.
"We were playing cricket nearby when the blast happen and we ran over to help and have been here since then," said one Santa Cruz neighbourhood boy, Mahesh Mahadev. "I saw flames and a thick black cloud and saw people jumping from the train."
Tempers flared at the slow response from the city's rescue workers. Volunteers complained that fire brigrades and ambulances took way too long to arrive.
"After Khar Station, we heard this loud blast and we thought it was as shot circuit,"Jignesh Bhatt, another volunteer. "We jumped from the train and then realized what had happened. We helped pull out the people from the bombed coach by removing the seats and metal."
The dead had been removed and the injured rushed to the hospital. Left on the tracks were shoes, bags and other scraps of clothing.
I had seen enough, but then caught a glimpse of a seat from the passenger compartment detached and alone from the rest of the train. Its twisted metal legs told a sad tale of what were likely the last moments of its occupant, who had found a seat heading home for the evening.
This was India's 9/11 in one of its most secure cities. Why do I say to keep an eye on this? Two reasons:
First, to see how India reacts to this. Obviously they are angry, but if they even suspect that Pakistan may be involved (and as yet nothing is there to dissuade them from such a proposition), we could bo looking at two close allies getting ready for war with one another. We know that Pakistan has some al-Qaeda elements within its borders, especially after the numerous assassination attempts made on President Musharaf. However, just as they tried to incite the populace in Iraq, al-Qaeda is now doing it to two of our allies.
Second, they singled out both nations for the simple reason that they may end up going to war with one another. The prospect they are looking at though is a nuclear exchange between the two. Not only would it remove two of our key allies in this war, but it the fallout would bring more misery to the people of India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan than they have ever endured. And, of course, our enemies will point the finger at us for the whole fiasco. It is a win-win for al-Qaeda either way.
If they go to war with one another, they are removed from the field. If they exchange nukes, they are removed from the field. Al-Qaeda clearly wants these nations targeted. But they are hoping and praying that India will believe that Pakistan was involved in the attack. That is the lynchpin to the strategy they are employing in this respect. Yes, they want to hurt India, but they know that the Indians and their feud with Pakistan could fuel even more chaos in the region.
Marcie
Yes, I am calling for people to keep a close eye on this attack. Binny Sabharwal, correspondant for the Wall Street Journal happened to be at the epicenter of the attacks, and reported on it from India:
I left The Wall Street Journal office about five minutes before 6 p.m. local time and boarded a train at Church Gate station, heading home to my apartment in a western suburb of Mumbai. I went to the ladies' compartment and stood among other passengers, waiting for a seat to open.
Just before Mahim station, I found one and sat down.
Moments later, I heard a huge explosion from another train passing on the next track. Our train shook violently. We came to a sudden halt and then I watched a thick cloud of smoke appear. A couple of girls standing near the doors said they saw the other train's roof blown off. Debris floated everywhere. Then I heard a middle-age woman say, "Thank God, it wasn't our train." We all knew it was a bomb, but nobody knew that a series of blasts were erupting in trains across the city, killing at least 147 people. We all began calling on our mobile phones, jamming up cellular networks.
After a pause, our train began to roll again, proceeding slowly to the next station – as if in a daze. We all got off at the next station. I flagged an auto rickshaw to take me home.
Near my apartment, I went to check out the Khar station, site of a separate bomb blast. A ten-minute walk from there, another explosion occurred near the Santa Cruz station. Volunteers from nearby colleges and neighborhood residents went down to the tracks to help out and distribute water. Some people linked arms, making a human chain to prevent more people from coming to the bomb site.
"We were playing cricket nearby when the blast happen and we ran over to help and have been here since then," said one Santa Cruz neighbourhood boy, Mahesh Mahadev. "I saw flames and a thick black cloud and saw people jumping from the train."
Tempers flared at the slow response from the city's rescue workers. Volunteers complained that fire brigrades and ambulances took way too long to arrive.
"After Khar Station, we heard this loud blast and we thought it was as shot circuit,"Jignesh Bhatt, another volunteer. "We jumped from the train and then realized what had happened. We helped pull out the people from the bombed coach by removing the seats and metal."
The dead had been removed and the injured rushed to the hospital. Left on the tracks were shoes, bags and other scraps of clothing.
I had seen enough, but then caught a glimpse of a seat from the passenger compartment detached and alone from the rest of the train. Its twisted metal legs told a sad tale of what were likely the last moments of its occupant, who had found a seat heading home for the evening.
This was India's 9/11 in one of its most secure cities. Why do I say to keep an eye on this? Two reasons:
First, to see how India reacts to this. Obviously they are angry, but if they even suspect that Pakistan may be involved (and as yet nothing is there to dissuade them from such a proposition), we could bo looking at two close allies getting ready for war with one another. We know that Pakistan has some al-Qaeda elements within its borders, especially after the numerous assassination attempts made on President Musharaf. However, just as they tried to incite the populace in Iraq, al-Qaeda is now doing it to two of our allies.
Second, they singled out both nations for the simple reason that they may end up going to war with one another. The prospect they are looking at though is a nuclear exchange between the two. Not only would it remove two of our key allies in this war, but it the fallout would bring more misery to the people of India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan than they have ever endured. And, of course, our enemies will point the finger at us for the whole fiasco. It is a win-win for al-Qaeda either way.
If they go to war with one another, they are removed from the field. If they exchange nukes, they are removed from the field. Al-Qaeda clearly wants these nations targeted. But they are hoping and praying that India will believe that Pakistan was involved in the attack. That is the lynchpin to the strategy they are employing in this respect. Yes, they want to hurt India, but they know that the Indians and their feud with Pakistan could fuel even more chaos in the region.
Marcie
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 6:29 PM
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