Thank you all for your support. We need each other now more than ever and I am happy to see such a strong reaction all over the world.

I live in Philadelphia and I on I-76 listening to NPR when the planes struck the towers. When I reached work, I saw the second plane hit. I felt so much anger that day that I thought I’d never feel it again. But I was proven wrong. Hard Right, I agree with you. We in the USA had gone to sleep, because we have not had an attack on us since 9/11. But the mumbai attacks has woken the whole world again. We are united once again against terror and we have regained our lost momentum. That is one positive I am happy about. Though, why is it that hundreds of people have to die before we unite.

I also agree with Mike. India has to avoid any knee jerk, emotionally charged action against Pakistan, though we cannot let such actions go unpunished. It only serves to boost the morale of the terrorists and makes us look like eunuchs. I think India has to do what it needs to do to keep its citizens safe, but it has to do it responsibly and synch up with the US for a sanity check. It always helps to have a third party look at your plans free of any nationalistic emotions. Also, a larger purposeful multipronged effort by the whole international community needs to be carried out behind the scenes. By multipronged, I mean, diplomatic, covert on the ground ops and sanctions. The terrorists masterminds need to know that they will not go unpunished. We need to mete out the punishment with as much zeal and fervor as these terrorists spray death on innocent civilians. THEY need to FEAR US. They need to be mentally defeated before they will physically perish.

An Update from Mumbai:
> About 200,000 people gathered in front of the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel near the Gateway of India yesterday as part of an Anti Terror rally.
> The Muslim religious leadership in Mumbai has refused to allow the dead bodies of these terrorists to be buried in any Muslim burial ground. They have said that these killers are not Muslims. It’s a good positive thing message from them. But to me, it smacks a bit of political posturing. What I want to see is “tangible, hard” action taken by these leaders, not just political populist gimmicks.

Spare a thought for The Rabbi:
I read an article yesterday that made me sick to the core. It seems that Rabbi Holtzberg’s wife was six months pregnant and the terrorists knew about it when they shot her. Also, they physically abused their two year old child, as evident by the bruises on the child’s back. What sick weirdos would do such a thing. I don’t believe in hell, but today I hope there is one, and that these sick bastards rot in hell for eternity.

Keep up the good writing folks.

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Vikk, we are with you in your mourning. May your countrymen not go back to sleep like many of ours have.

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VikK,
My heart and thoughts are with you and all the people in Mumbai. What happened there is despicable.

It is good to know that you are from Mumbai, there is also Sigmundringeck who is from SEAsia and I’m from Canada (French Québec). This FA blog is such a fine site; it is starting to attract people all around the world. WOW!

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Vikk: We know what the people of Mumbai are going through and you have our sympathy and fullest support.

And I hope too that this atrocity will cause more responsible and effective leaders to emerge in your country to help prevent future attacks.

We need to be careful in dealing with Pakistan so as not to start a larger war but we also cannot be so blind to evident responsiblity Pakistan has to control it’s own territory.

I’m encouraged by your report that people are taking greater interest into all dimensions of this problem and hopefully they will demand effective solutions.

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@Craig:

I hadn’t seen that one. Thanks Craig.

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@Craig: I am from Mumbai and I cannot tell you how my heart bleeds for my city and my country. People are on the streets here and I have not seen such unity for one cause ever in my city. Mumbai is India’s New York. Peopel are too busy chasing dreams and busy schedules. But these terror attacks have done something that these terrorists would have never dreamed of. It has awakened a sleeping non-chalant people. It has become a movement. Small kids are now discussing terrorism and how to battle it. It is an amazing amazing scene out here and it warms my heart amidst the cold death we have just witnessed. I hope the Indian politicians (know for their greed and corruption) feel the same emotions and help us channel ours into a constructive and effective fight against terrorism. Israel’s model is time tested and proven in the most difficult of conditions. India should and MUST take their help and develop their infrastructure to proactively root these sick weirdos out. I will be watching intently. Kudos to you and other bloggers who I hope will keep this flame alive.

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“Insert these counter-terrorists into Pakistanin territory and carry out a clean and quick sugical operation and take out the head honchos of these terrorist organizations… Israel is the expert in that…” (VikK)

You are so right. Like Michael Behe said in this great article on the Israel/Lebanon war:

THE TRUTH IN LEBANON
By: Michael Behe, (Lebanon journalist living in Beirut)
August 2006

“… As for the destruction caused by the Israelis . . . that is another imposture: Look at the satellite map! I have situated, as best I could, but in their correct proportions, the parts of my capital that have been destroyed by Israel. They are Haret Hreik — in its totality — and the dwellings of Hezbollah’s leaders, situated in the large Shia suburb of Dayaa (as they spell it) and that I have circled in blue. . . .

All those who speak of the “destruction of Beirut” are either liars, Iranians, anti-Semites or absent. Even the houses situated one alley’s distance from the targets I mentioned have not been hit, they have not even suffered a scratch; on contemplating these results of this work you understand the meaning of the concept “surgical strikes” and you can admire the dexterity of the Jewish pilots. Beirut, all the rest of Beirut, 95 percent of Beirut, lives and breathes better than a fortnight ago. All those who have not sided with terrorism know they have strictly nothing to fear from the Israeli planes, on the contrary! One example: Last night the restaurant where I went to eat was jammed full and I had to wait until 9:30 p.m. to get a table. Everyone was smiling, relaxed, but no one filmed them: a strange destruction of Beirut, is it not? . . .

Like the overwhelming majority of Lebanese, I pray that no one puts an end to the Israeli attack before it finishes shattering the terrorists.”

You can read the full article here:
http://jpundit.typepad.com/jci/2006/08/the_truth_in_le.html

P.S.: But of course, the stupid UN put a stop to it before Israel could finish its job, so they lost the war and terrorism is still alive and well. Gotta get rid of UN, they no longer take honorable decisions.

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@Craig: Terrorism is like Cancer. to treat cancer, an early diagnosis is required, Then chemo therapy. The body suffers and becomes weaker before it becomes stronger and defeats cancer. These attacks are tell tale signs that the world is suffering from terrorist cancer. We need start the chemo rightaway or risk losing our world. India and the world need to join hands and create counter-terrorism outfits of their own that can be shown to operate on their own and be shown to be “Stateless”. Give the Pakistani terrorists a dose of their own medicine. Insert these counter-terrorists into Pakistanin territory and carry out a clean and quick sugical operation and take out the head honchos of these terrorist organizations. and mind you, we should not only take out the actual terrorists, but also their support staff who are spread all over the world in the US, UK, Middle east, indonesia etc. Israel is the expert in that and I am so proud that it has been able to kick some terrorist ass quite convincingly. Someone has taken the fight to them. The US has also done that, but it got distracted in Iraq and unfortunately what started off as a very promising was on terror has ended up just a tenuous face-saving exercise for the US. hopefullly when Obama brings back US troops, he will make the right decision and concentrate efforts on where the real problem lies….PAKISTAN. I mean come one, terror outfits operating freely with the Pakistani army’s who are in fact in control of their Nuclear arsenal!!!! What more do you want to hit th epanic buttons???? Wake up world. Otherwise, sooner or later, our worst fear, NUCLEAR terrorism is going to come true….and it can happen anywhere. Lets get together, co-ordinate on a massive scale and become more aggressive in taking out these terrorists. If we dont do that, we will see many more innocent lives lost.

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Pakistan has for long used the very smart positionof, yes we know that there are rogue elements in our country and “you” need to help “us” root them out. But that is the side they have for the oh-so gullible international community. US and other European powers are so eager to get the support of the Pakistani government in the hope that they will do the dirty work for them, that there has been no timeline put on the Pak govt. to show tangible results on the ground. And because of that,, year after year, money flows to Pakistan and terror flows to India. India needs to learn from Israel. If you want to protect your freedom, you need to do it yourself. You cannot depend on the US or UK or Russia or China to do your hardwork for you, because every country has problems of their own. India has the moral high ground and principled backing of probably all democracies of the world. India should decide what it needs to do, put a solid details plan around it and execute it. Dont wait for Rice or Obama to take the first step. Also, India needs to look inside. I think it is time that India smartens up and does some serious housekeeping. There has been a lot of noise that this attck originated from Pakistan and India is focusing all its effort in exposing Pakistan. While that is necessary, India also needs to realize that a portion of the planning and infrastructre is on its own territory. This has been possible because India’s bureaucracy and Political machinery has been sleeping and taking the Indian people’s highly tolerant nature for granted. While I am a proud Indian, but I feel disgraced and violated when I think about the terrorist bosses, who are right now watching their TV sets and laughing their heads off at India’s incompetence. The filth lies as much inside India as outside her borders. India – you need to take the security of your freedom in your own hands and do what is right for your people. Everything else will fall into place.

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“…no sovereign country would have tolerated so much as india…” Jimmyjj)

What about Israel? They are constantly receiving rockets on their head. Between 2000 and 2006, they have received more that 3,000 rockets. They finally got mad and went to war when Hezbollah kidnapped two of their soldiers and killed eight. In 2006 and 2007, 1,719 rockets launched from Gaza hit Israeli territory and this year alone over 7,000 rockets.

But India and Pakistan both have nuclear arsenal, it would not be a good idea that they declare war to one another. It could end up in a big BOOM! Like it would not be a good idea to wait for Iran to get the nuclear arsenal before fighting them.

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