Fog of war is a very real problem, and even worse when you're fighting against a foe who is using hit-and-run tactics to sow confusion. So it's not too surprising that reports about just exactly how many attackers were involved in the Bombay terrorist spree have varied quite a lot.

It is a bit surprising just how much they've varied. I've seen reports of up to 40, and as few as 8. The latter seems extremely unlikely considering how many places were attacked and how much sheer carnage there was.

But now it seems to be coming out that Indian forces killed 9 attackers and captured one. One report said those 10 were all there were, but I'm skeptical. A different report said that anywhere from 10 to 30 others got away. Unfortunately, I think that's a lot more likely.

And that is very bad. If it's true, then it means that the Indian government, city and state and national, didn't handle the situation very well at all.

Preventing the attackers from escaping is the most important thing. It's even more important than saving civilian lives -- because attackers who escape can attack again and kill more civilians on another day in another place.

It sounds hard hearted, but it's the greater mercy. It's the same lesson we learned on 9/11. It used to be thought that in a jet hijacking the top priority was saving the lives of the passengers. Now we know that the top priority is preventing the hijackers from taking over the cockpit, because a jet is a weapon, and can kill far more people on the ground than it carries.

And so it is here. Even if it costs hostage lives, the most important thing is making sure the terrorists don't escape. If it's true that half or more of the terrorists got away, then it's a failure of the first order, and one that India, or someone else, will pay for in blood on another day.

UPDATE: Here's another story that contends that all this was done by just ten attackers. I don't buy it.

I think the Indian government is trying to cover up for the fact that some of the attackers got away.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Weird World at 03:21 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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