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John Noonan at The Weekly Standard raises the issue of poor Indian counter-terrorism doctrine:
Five hostages and two terrorists were killed in the Indian commando raid on Chabad House. That's a losing score by anyone's tally. My guess is that the Mumbai attacks will affect the Indians in the same way that it affected the Germans after Munich.John links to an Israeli critique that suggests that the Indians were far too aggressive and trigger-happy, making it difficult to capture live terrorists and increasing the overall level of carnage. Reportedly, the Indians refused Israeli offers of advice and technical assistance. This reminds me a bit of Operation Eagle Claw, the US effort to rescue hostages from the American Embassy in Tehran. In spite of tremendous Israeli experience with rescue and counter-terror operations, the Carter administration didn't bother to ask for Israeli advice, resulting in a disastrously flawed operation. Indeed, it appears that India's top domestic security official has resigned.
Also see Noah on the Mumbai attackers gadgetry, and David on the potential Indian response. Publius also has some thoughts worth reading.
--Robert Farley
