I was wondering how on Earth one of the top Indian counter-terrorist specialist managed to get himself killed at the Taj Mahal:
The death of Bombay’s top antiterrorist officer is a devastating blow to a police force struggling to confine a burgeoning Islamist threat. Hemant Karkare, the chief of the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad, was shot three times in the chest as he led his men at the Taj Mahal Palace, one of the two luxury hotels overrun by heavily armed terrorists.
Mr Karkare’s decision to lead his troops from the front was typical of India’s anti-terrorism commanders. The country has a tradition of promoting police officers who specialise in “encounter killings” – a controversial form of extrajudicial justice used against suspected criminals. It is not unusual for such men to have dozens of kills to their name.
I’d been assuming that the militants had a sniper armed with a .50 caliber or something who took Karkare out when he was surveying the scene or giving a press conference. My alternative explanation was that a booby trap had been prepared with a large bomb. It never occurred to me that an experienced paramilitary commander would perform the modern equivalent of a cavalry charge into a fortified position. The amateurish Indian tactics explain another thing that was confusing me from the initial reports, namely, the fact that police and military casualties actually outnumbered the Islamic militants killed.
Bravery is an excellent thing in a commander. But it’s not really an effective substitute for intelligence and strategy.
I’m just curious how long it will be before one of these terrorist spectaculars takes place at the Mall of America. It seems that Somalis given residence in Minneapolis are known to have been successfully recruited to join the jihadist efforts in Somalia, while the Telegraph is reporting “Two British-born Pakistanis were among the terrorists who killed 140.”
I also wonder how many will have to die in the name of multiculturalism before it is finally rejected by the American people?