I will leave the more serious commenting to political pundits and expert commentators about the recent deplorable acts of terrorism committed to the peaceful residents of Mumbay, but like the average spectator of this sad event, a few questions still linger in my mind.
Foremost is regarding the live reporting of various international media network; is it really wise to broadcast live on TV or over the radio the specific details of the on-going rescue operation? Over the CNN for instance, live footages of commandos being dropped from helicopter onto the besieged Jewish centre made me wonder whether this jeopardised the whole operation, by revealing the points of entry and the positions of the rescue party.
In the above pictures, one can clearly see how many units were dropped and for the trained eye what type of firepower they carry. One of the ground anchors even went on to describe what was happening on the ground saying that some of these commandos were rapelling down a heavy-looking metal object of what seems to be a bomb. Okay, perhaps the terrorists inside were not tuned in to CNN nor listening over BBC radio, but it is easy to imagine that they could be fed with such information by their accomplices outside watching the very same footages. As a viewer, it is certainly important to see the unfolding of events live and it is the right of the news outlets to disseminate information, but for me I’m willing to waive this right for the sake of the safety of the hostages and the rescue teams.
What is really mind-boggling is how 10 young men could wreak such havoc in at least ten different points of the city, in a span of 60 hours leaving close to 200 dead people and more than 350 wounded, all these in the face of about 1000 government forces including hundreds of supposedly elite commandos.
Brown in the Land of Blues and Blondes 