Mumbai: Terrorist Tactics – "Active Shooter"

The Next Mumbai (Washington Post)…David Ignatius

…There was far too much of that fear-mongering and spasmodic reaction after Sept. 11, which had the effect of destabilizing the United States almost as much as it did its enemies. The challenge is to understand the adversary so that if an attack comes, the authorities will respond with cool heads and steady aim.

“Mumbai is a worst-case ‘active shooter’ problem,” says a former CIA officer who helped organize a DHS pilot program on the subject last summer for police chiefs. “It had multiple shooters, multiple locations, mobile threats, willingness to fight the first responders and follow-on SWAT/commando units, well-equipped and well-trained operatives, and a willingness to die. Police department commanders in America should be scratching their heads and praying.”

Terrorists and Sovereignty: Options

The Sovereignty Dodge, (Washington Post)…Robert Kagan, Dec 2, 2008.

…it would be useful for the United States, Europe and other nations to begin establishing the principle that Pakistan and other states that harbor terrorists should not take their sovereignty for granted. In the 21st century, sovereign rights need to be earned.

So if the world is indeed not to be held hostage by non-state actors operating from Pakistan, what can be done?

Rather than simply begging the Indians to show restraint, a better option could be to internationalize the response. Have the international community declare that parts of Pakistan have become ungovernable and a menace to international security. Establish an international force to work with the Pakistanis to root out terrorist camps in Kashmir as well as in the tribal areas …

Robert Kagan, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, writes a monthly column for The Post.

Pakistan: Mumbai Attacks – Most Likely Lashkar-e-Taiba

U.S. Intelligence Focuses On Pakistani Group, (New York Times)…Mark Mazzetti and Salman Masood, Nov 29, 2008.

American intelligence and counterterrorism officials said Friday that there was mounting evidence that a Pakistani militant group based in Kashmir, most likely Lashkar-e-Taiba, was responsible for this week’s deadly attacks in Mumbai.

Pakistan, Unilateral Action

Unilateral Action By U.S. A Growing Fear In Pakistan
(New York Times)…Jane Perlez, July 22, 2008,
Pg. 8

Strong suggestions by the United States that it could resort to unilateral intervention against Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan are generating increasing anxiety in the Pakistani press and among government officials, who warn that such an action could backfire.

Pakistan: INTEL Cooperation

When Spies Don’t Play Well With Their Allies
(New York Times)…Mark Mazzetti

…But most C.I.A. veterans agree that no relationship between the spy agency and a foreign intelligence service is quite as byzantine, or as maddening, as that between the C.I.A. and Pakistan’s Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, or I.S.I.

Pakistan – FATA

Note To The Next President: Watch Pakistan
(Philadelphia Inquirer)…Trudy Rubin, June 11, 2008

The most urgent foreign policy problem that the next U.S. president will face won’t be Iraq. Nor will it be Iran. The next terrorist attack on America is likely to originate, according to the top U.S. military commander, Adm. Mike Mullen, in a place you’ve probably never heard of: the FATA. That’s the acronym for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of northern Pakistan.