Mumbai Massacre

Picture source

With bullets and explosions still ringing out in Mumbai, it's worth noting that this kind of coordinated chaos is possible anywhere in the world with the right motivations.

Mumbai does not have a great history when it comes to terrorist attacks. In July 2006, there were 7 explosions on commuter trains that killed 174 people. Bombs killed 52 Muslims in 2003. In 1993, bombs killed 250 civilians and 700 injured.

I'm sure there are more, but you get the picture. It is a city often targeted by terrorists.

Paranoia and misinformation are key weapons in these types of attacks, and the most recent ones are no exception. A previously unheard of group (Deccan Mujahaideen) is claiming responsibility. The Indian authorities have been fingering the Pakistani based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) since the beginning, and there appears to be more than a few crazies willing to point the finger at Mossad, because you know, Israel has so much to gain from blowing up India.

From a technical perspective, the popularity of Web 2.0 and social networking technologies has run circles around traditional news media, with BBC quoting twitter as a news source and emergency contact information being propagated at lightning speeds. Blogs and other new media technologies are not only reporting the news but also creating the news, in a strange self-referential feeding frenzy. This link will show you a real-time updated comments of twitter users on the #mumbai channel. Flickr, a popular photo sharing site is hosting snaps from locals about the incidents, with some contributors being interviewed by TV stations. The speed at which news gets out is incredible, and makes the world just that little bit smaller.

I hope the Indian authorities find and kill/prosecute all those responsible, however these kind of attacks are unlikely to stop. And inevitably they will spread to other countries.

Update: Fixed spelling and added link to Reuters story.