High profile people killed in the Mumbai attack. approx 183 dead

[Liberal_in_LA]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/11/29/india.victims/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

Indian victims include financier, journalist, actor's sister, police

(CNN) -- The chairman of one of India's fastest-growing banks, the sister of a Bollywood actor, a Times of India journalist and the chief of India's Anti-Terrorism Squad were among Indians killed in the four-day terrorist siege in Mumbai.

Eighteen foreigners, including five Americans, were killed in attacks on nine sites Wednesday through Saturday in India's commercial capital; at least 165 Indians died.

Several news outlets reported that Ashok Kapur, chairman of Yes Bank, was killed Wednesday at the Oberoi hotel.

[hlthe2b]

1. It is so amazing that all this carnage was the result of 10 men...

That aspect is particularly unnerving to me.

[SoCalDem]

2. 5-star world-class hotel? Not surprising to me

high-value targets are the goal in terror attacks..people OR real estate..or BOTH.

[malaise]

3. The biggest shock is that no cricketers were killed

Thankfully India and England were playing elsewhere. The England team left for home.after calling off the tour. Our team stays in that hotel as well as most of the touring teams when they're playing in Mumbai.

[spindrifter]

5. The Serena Hotel in Kabul, the Marriott in Islamabad,

now the Taj and the Trident (Oberoi). Unfortunately, having spent time in Kabul hanging out at the Serena on occasion, I can say that there are many business and social activities there. People go because the 5-star hotel has the kind of security in public that is extremely important for internationals, especially. Even so, the tragedies at each of these places demonstrate that the security is not totally effective. For one thing, just how are you going to insure the safety of guests in a 500-room establishment where people are constantly going and coming and having their own visitors over. My recommendation: don't stay at a 5-star unless you absolutely must.

[spindrifter]

4. This is the kind of operation that allows for very few

highly trained people to pull off something like the Mumbai tragedy:

<snip>

It appears the attackers were organized into buddy pairs, allowing one to shoot while the other moved, and so forth. Interestingly, the buddy pair has is a later innovation in small unit tactics and has only been slow to trickle through regular infantry formations.

<snip>

During the Iraq War, two innovations have taken place: first, within the Marine Corps, the concept of the “buddy pair” or “buddy team” has spread dramatically, though it is still not doctrinal (it should be). The idea may have begun in the special forces, though I am not sure. The advantage of smaller and smaller units of maneuver is that if they rehearse their actions and build cohesion within the unit, they develop ever greater levels of capability *at that level*. A well-trained buddy pair with the right mindset and enough ammo can take over a city block, house by house, while under fire.

<snip>

...in Mumbai it would seem we have seen the ultimate result: autonomous buddy-pairs, with a great deal of rehearsals and navigation practice, each with its own set of goals, possibly redundant comms with brevity codes. I would imagine that each team had multiple preplanned routes to each of its objectives before they finally converged on the location for the last stand. Along the way, as some have wondered, they may have stopped for quick logistics reloads of ammo and water.

<snip>

Note this sentence, from the AP article: “They weren’t aiming at anyone in particular. It was like they wanted to empty their magazines and do as much damage here as possible before heading to the Taj,” I would argue that the terrorists, while being superbly motivated, and having planned intricately for their assault, are nevertheless poor marksmen. Given the details that we are learning of their attack, the most surprising thing is that more people weren’t killed.

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http://pajamasmedia.com/richardfernandez/2008/11/29/a-marine-officer-on-the-mumbai-tactics/