Terrorist Attacks in Mumbai
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(Picture from cnn.com, double posted at bigWOWO.)
It’s too early to know the story behind this, but a series of terrible attacks have started across Mumbai in India. According to the NY Times, they attackers are focusing on Westerners:
The Mumbai police said Thursday that the attacks killed at least 101 people and wounded at least 250. Guests who had escaped the hotels told television stations that the attackers were taking hostages, singling out Americans and Britons.
Christiane Amanpour from CNN.com talks about the significance of Mumbai:
This is very, very dangerous in this part of the world. Mumbai is India’s not just gateway to the nation; it’s its economic and financial hub, and it’s its cultural hub as well, having the Bollywood and the other film production studios there.
There isn’t much information out there yet. I’m wondering about the timing–was this to send a message to the new administration, or since they’re targeting Westerners, did they purposely coordinate this attack to coincide with the American Thanksgiving holiday? We’ll find out more in the upcoming days.
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SamuraiJack
9:20 am | Nov 27, 2008Deaths so far:
Australian 1
British 1
German 1
Indian 95
Italian 1
Japanese 1
I’m not sure if you can say they were “targeting Westerners” until you know the motive behind the attack.
Also, Thanksgiving is definitely not a factor. It’s only an American holiday, not a British one, or a Western one for that matter. Canadians had it a month ago.
Senkeh
1:24 pm | Nov 27, 2008*twirls hair like an idiot* But, like, OMG–duh! If so much as ONE Westerner dies, don’t you, like, know that he/she had to be the target and that’s what, like, everybody needs to focus on? I mean, who cares if NINETY-SIX people (of color) died and left behind devastated friends and families, versus four Westerners?
nightshade
3:16 pm | Nov 27, 2008Le sigh–America isn’t so important that all tragedies in the world must be linked to its social calendar.
jaehwan
10:00 pm | Nov 27, 2008If the NY Times is correct in saying that Westerners were targeted (and I wasn’t saying that the Times is correct–I was just quoting the source), I don’t see any harm at all in asking questions about motive and timing.
jaehwan
11:03 pm | Nov 27, 2008SJ:
I know that Thanksgiving is American, but the reality is that America often serves as a proxy for “Western” in some people’s heads. In any case, I’ll admit that I don’t know, and so far it looks like no one really knows. I guess we’ll see…
And yes, the NY Times has been wrong before. I’m inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt for now, but if they’re wrong, I’ll retract my speculation based on their words.
minorTruths
12:30 pm | Nov 28, 2008For those interested, you can keep up to date through New Delhi Television feed via Fox News. Yes, via Fox News…but nevermind that.
http://www.foxnews.com/video2/live.html?chanId=1
SamuraiJack
1:01 pm | Nov 28, 2008My mistake, I was using “you” in the general sense, not directed specifically at anyone.
As for Thanksgiving, I guess you can’t rule out the possibility completely, but seeing how the attack was a few days before, rather than the actual day, I’m very doubtful.
jaehwan
12:38 am | Dec 01, 2008SJ,
No worries. The internet is a funny thing. Everything is in real time, so I usually just guess even before all the info comes in. I figure the truth will come out in the end anyway.
By the way, are you up for calling in to a podcast? I’d like to do this one. I know you’ve posted some interesting commentary on the topic before. If you’re up for it, let me know. We can do it in two weeks.