SATURDAY,  NOVEMBER 29,  2008

MUMBAI CAUTION - 3:42 P.M. ET:  The Times of India is reporting that the terrorists had local help in planning the attacks.  However, a caution:  Much of the information coming out of India is sketchy, contradictory, and based on unnamed sources.  And the Indian officials releasing information have their own agendas, including political survival.  So be careful.

BACK TO BASICS II - From AFP:  Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani said on Friday that 80 dollars a barrel is a "reasonable" price for oil and that his country would support any OPEC decision to cut output. "A reasonable price for oil is 80 dollars a barrel," said Shahristani on arrival in Cairo to attend a consultative meeting by the OPEC cartel to study slumping crude prices.

COMMENT:  Not exactly an expression of thanks to us.  Shut this man up.

BACK TO BASICS - AT 3:23 P.M. ET:  CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Saudi Arabia's king says the price of oil should be $75 a barrel, much higher than it is now, but his oil minister indicated Saturday that no measures will likely be taken until OPEC meets again next month.  Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi said that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will "do what needs to be done" to shore up falling oil prices when the cartel meets Dec. 17 in Algeria.

COMMENT:  We'd like to keep the price of oil where it is, but $75 is much better than the $150 that we were envisioning earlier this year. 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT, SHE'S BAACK - AT 10:17 A.M. ET:  From Fox News:  A former adviser to Barack Obama's presidential campaign who once called Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton a "monster" is now working on the transition team for the agency that Clinton may lead.  State Department officials said Friday that Samantha Power is among foreign policy experts the president-elect's office selected to help the incoming administration prepare for Clinton's anticipated nomination as secretary of state.

MORE FROM RENEE, AT 9:38 A.M. ET:  Renee Nielsen, who has given us such exceptional reports, has another this morning (evening in Mumbai).  She was going to take one of her children to a birthday party.  Renee reports:

The birthday party for a classmate that I'd decided to take my five-year-old to, at the Taj Lands End, got cancelled. The mother of the birthday girl apparently had many friends who were killed down at the Oberoi and Taj. How horrible.

The papers today have started to list who was killed. I wrote before that it's not just tourists who frequent these hotels, but also regular, wealthy Indians: business owners, lawyers, actors, etc. The American school sent out an announcement that they did have one set of parents killed, leaving three children orphaned. No word on nationality just yet.  (The parents were not necessarily American.)

Anecdotally, we met a guy today at the club who works for Singapore Airlines. They've been moving out bodies on their airline. One 28-year-old Thai woman was killed and SA carried her body back to Thailand. One of this man's employees was shot in the knee at the Taj.

The terrorists apparently knew the layout of the Taj, including the rooms where the closed-circuit TV cameras were located.

There is a chef who works with the Taj - so when he heard what was going on, he rushed down there. He led some of the commandos in and was taking them to this hidden room, and the terrorists were already there! There was gunfire, and that's when one of the majors in the police was killed and he was shot. He went face down into some decorative water feature, which was about a foot deep.  He thought he was going to drown because he was afraid to move, lest be shot again! 

There are rumors that two of the terrorists were employed by the Taj, which is how they knew the place so well.

The Mumbai Mirror got an eyewitness report that one group of patrons at the Oberoi was herded into some smaller area from the restaurant. From there, the terrorists decided to start separating the group - presumably the group was too big to move around, and they wanted just a few human shields. They then started mowing down the rest left behind. One guy was saved by being pushed down by another who was shot and fell hard on top of him. He may have been the only survivor of that entire group.

We're seeing lots of husbands and wives killed who were out dining together.  

The family of the Taj's general manager was staying across from the room that, it is being rumored, two of the terrorists had checked into . When fire broke out on that floor, the mother and their two sons were trapped in the bathroom of their room, and died in the fire.   The boys were something like 14 and 11, if I'm not mistaken.

One more odd thought to consider:  if foreigners were the really the specific targets, then why open fire at CST (formerly Victoria Station)?  The terrorists "just" killed locals: Hindus, Muslims, whoever. No tourists use that station. I would bet more Muslims have been murdered than foreigners by at least double or triple.

Something just doesn't add up.  

A lot doesn't add up.  The American news channels are now giving updates, but then going to other stories, as the siege is over.  But there are many questions about the motive behind these superbly planned attacks.  One network is reporting that Indian officials are now more emphatic than they were two days ago in blaming Pakistani elements.  We'll keep you informed.

MUMBAI UPDATE

Posted at 8:39 a.m. ET

It does appear that the siege in Mumbai is in fact over.  Given the chaos, we may not be satisfied that it's over until guests start returning to the Taj and the bar reopens.  There is actually very little new news out of Mumbai.  There will now be an investigation, there will be an impact on Indian politics, and possibly on India-Pakistan relations, if it's shown that the terrorists had a Pakistani connection.

We may never know the full truth.  A number of the terrorists are dead, and we have no idea what the survivors are saying.  There have been no ideological claims made.  If the terrorists had a cause they wished to publicize, they failed, because no cause is getting any free publicity, at least at this hour.

The American media has thus far acquitted itself well.  It has been primarily a television, rather than a press story.  The TV coverage was assisted to some degree by the fact that the attack occurred over a holiday weekend, when there was very little competition from other news sources.  The political class was eating, not talking.  Even CNN International performed well, although we were subjected last night to an "analysis" by the insufferable Christiane Amanpour, who announced that there were contradictions in the image of the event.  On the one hand, Amanpour informed us, we were told that the attack was well planned.  On the other hand, Amanpour intoned, there was indiscriminate shooting at a railroad station.

CNN needs to hire a private tutor for Amanpour, one who can whisper in her ear that there is no contradiction between a well planned attack and "indiscriminate" shooting.  If the purpose of the attack is to kill as many innocents as possible, there will be plenty of "indiscriminate" shooting.  (Actually, it's a spray of bullets, with a definite objective.)  CNN also graced us with Deepak Chopra, a self-help guy, who announced that it was all Washington's fault. 

But those were the exceptions.  Much of the reporting was responsible and restrained, and even most of the usual experts brought on the air were cautious in their observations.  There was, mercifully, very little talk of theoretical comparisons between President Bush and President-elect Obama on the terrorism question.

We await further details.  We're especially eager to hear more from Renee Nielsen, who has provided us with such remarkable insight.

November 29, 2008.      Permalink          

FRIDAY,  NOVEMBER 28,  2008

BULLETIN FROM RENEE NIELSEN IN MUMBAI - 11:43 P.M. ET:

Times Now has breaking news that one of their reporters has information about the captured terrorist saying that the plan was to blow up the Taj and hurt India economically.  

The anchor followed that up with "How could they achieve this? Did they have explosives on them?" to which the reporter said that the taxi that blew up in Vile Parle was carrying RDX (did it blow up early by accident?) and the authorities found more RDX elsewhere.

NSG still clearing rooms.  No comments on casualties found inside.  Bomb squad has gone into the Oberoi.  

FROM RENEE NIELSEN IN MUMBAI - 11:26 P.M. ET, SATURDAY MORNING IN MUMBAI:

Latest:  Three terrorists killed, NSG still clearing Taj and firefighters putting out fire in the area where the very popular Wasabi restaurant was.  The police are very relaxed and have allowed the crowds to get closer, so would think that indicates they're confident all is over.

However, still not official official on all channels.  Yahoo says it's over, Times Now says over, Headline News says "Operation Cyclone still on."

We're still watching it.  It appears to be over, but we wouldn't be shocked if there was an eruption of fighting at the Taj, which has been the pattern so far.

IS IT OVER? - 10:33 P.M. ET:  There is still one more report that the anti-terror operation at the Taj hotel in Mumbai is over.  We caution that there have been a number of reports like this.  The latest bulletin comes from the AP.  We will continue to monitor the situation.

MUMBAI - 9:30 P.M. ET:  It's morning in Mumbai, and the action at the Taj hotel is still going on.  There have been more false reports that things are being wrapped up.  There is no evidence of this.  We are now told that five Americans are dead.

Authorities are still not sure who pulled off these attacks.  But there is general agreement that this is one of the most sophisticated terrorist operations ever mounted.  We know that the attackers came from the sea, apparently hijacking a vessel. 

MORE FROM RENEE NEILSEN IN MUMBAI - 2:12 P.M. ET: 

NN Int'l also reporting that the rabbi and his wife were killed at Nariman house.  Totals dead there include: Five hostages, five terrorists and three NSG (National Security Guard), who were one officer two Jawas (whatever that is).

Israelis saying that none of their citizens were killed at the hotels.

The foreign dead now include two Brits and two French.  

MUMBAI UPDATE AT 10:10 A.M. ET:    Be careful of premature reports of Indian military operations ending in Mumbai.  There have been a number of these false reports.  There still apparently are operations going on at the Taj hotel and the Jewish center.

Two Americans from Virginia, a father and daughter, have been identified as among the dead. 

BULLETIN FROM RENEE NIELSEN AT 8:45 A.M. ET:

Breaking news: 5 hostages 2 terrorists killed at Nariman house.

Nariman House is the Jewish center.  There are reports on American TV that all the Israeli hostages there have been killed, but these are unconfirmed.

If there are Israeli deaths, Israel will feel compelled, under its longstanding policy, to take some action.

MORE FROM RENEE - 8:41 A.M. ET: 

New fire breaks out in the Taj.  Media reporting bodies being taken out of the back area.  

Nairman house has 1 floor left to be cleared.  Huge crowds gathering to cheer on police.  No word yet on the rabbi and his wife still trapped inside.

 

MUMBAI - FRIDAY

Posted at 7:34 a.m. ET

The terror in Mumai continues.  CNN is reporting the latest death toll at 146, and that number will grow.  There are new explosions at the Taj, part of which is apparently still occupied by a few terrorists.  There has been an assault on the Jewish center, but the results are not known.  There are reports, thus far unconfirmed, that a number of bodies have been found in several hotels.  We stress, unconfirmed.

Now both CNN and Fox are reporting an escalation in military activity.  The situation is very fluid.

We have been blessed here by the reports of Renee Nielsen, who has provided remarkable perspective.  Here is Renee's latest, filed just a few minutes ago:

Reports are coming in that the Oberoi operation is over. 24 bodies pulled out of there so far.  Nairman house has 2-3 terrorists and the Taj has supposedly 1 still loose inside.

Dead foreigners so far killed to include 2 Americans, 1 Japanese, 1 Finn, 2 Germans, 1 Canadian and 1 from Norway.  Who knows how many more.  Reports of 30 bodies in one hallway in the Taj.  

Misreporting of gunfire erupting around city turned out to be false.  It caused panic and havoc and the police used jammers to block cell phones at one point enraging media mostly based in Delhi from receiving info from Mumbai.  

It's chaos.  Everyone representing different agencies are saying different things.  

One odd thing to think about...if the terrorists were really intending to target Americans and even Brits, why not wait 24 hours and then you'd have all the hotels hosting American Thanksgiving dinners? These dinners were widely advertised and the Taj Bandstand here was expecting a large group.  There are odd theories floating around that this is actually mob related, as one crime duo of brothers fled to Pakistan since they were being hunted here.  No Korans or anything else have been reported found on the bodies, but they are saying credit cards, and US currency.  

All the information above could change.  It's incredible how the local media contradicts themselves with their "breaking news" headlines, then the scroll says something different.

A bit later Renee added:

Let me clarify: the mob brothers fled a long while ago but still may be running drug operations from there.  It's just a rumor at this point, but considering all the other information out there, seems as plausible as any other theory.  The media hasn't reported this, it's coming from the streets.

It's now dusk in Mumbai.  There's an eleven hour difference between New York and that city.  We'll continue to post bulletins, and Renee's reports.

November 28, 2008.      Permalink