Taj Mahal hotel chairman: We had warning

The Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai, India, temporarily increased security after being warned of a possible terrorist attack…

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…those measures, which were eased shortly before this week’s terror attacks…

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“It’s ironic that we did have such a warning, and we did have some measures,” Tata said, without elaborating on the warning or when security measures were enacted. “People couldn’t park their cars in the portico, where you had to go through a metal detector.”

However, Tata said the attackers did not enter through the entrance that has a metal detector. Instead, they came in a back entrance, he said.

“They knew what they were doing, and they did not go through the front. All of our arrangements are in the front,” he said.

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…A. Vaidyanathan, an economist who was a guest in the Taj when the attacks occurred, told The Hindu newspaper on Friday that he had noticed tight security at the hotel when he stayed there last month.

“First, when you enter the open parking, where the cars are parked, you had a very heavy metal frame; your baggage was searched,” he said. “At the entrance of the foyer, there was another metal detector, and you were personally searched and so on.”

However, for this latest trip, he said, he could walk right into the hotel without encountering the same measures.

Mumbai attacks: India raises security footing to ‘war level’

India to Mobilize in Aftermath of Mumbai Attacks (Updated)

…Like 9/11 did for America, the Mumbai attacks could boost India’s involvement in foreign military missions. Particularly, in Afghanistan….

UPDATE: Noah here. Speaking of finger-pointing, the Russians are now whispering that America may have been oh-so-indirectly involved. According to the Times of India**article below**, a “top Russian counter-terrorism expert” is saying that the Mumbai attackers “were probably trained by the special operations forces set up in Pakistan by the U.S.”

“The handwriting and character of the Mumbai events demonstrates that they were not ordinary terrorists,” said Vladimir Klyukin, an Afghan war veteran.

“Behind this terrorist attack there are ‘Green Flag’ special operations forces, which were created by the Americans in Pakistan, just an year before the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, and in the initial period were under full U.S. control,” stressed Klyukin, a veteran of the special “Vympel” commando group of the former Soviet KGB.

Obviously, this guy Klyukin is hardly a disinterested observer.

Muslims condemn Mumbai attacks, worry about image

Muslims from the Middle East to Britain and Austria condemned Sunday the Mumbai shooting rampage by suspected Islamic militants as senseless terrorism, but also found themselves on the defensive once again about bloodshed linked to their religion.

Mumbai attackers trained by special forces: Russian expert

“The handwriting and character of the Mumbai events demonstrates that they were not ordinary terrorists,” said Vladimir Klyukin, an Afghan war veteran.

“Behind this terrorist attack there are ‘Green Flag’ special operations forces, which were created by the Americans in Pakistan, just an year before the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, and in the initial period were under full US control,” stressed Klyukin, a veteran of the special “Vympel” commando group of the former Soviet KGB.

He said for such guerrilla operations at least two-three years of preparatory work with the involvement of experienced instructors is required.

Klyukin did not rule out that the Mumbai attackers could have taken part in similar attacks in other regions.

“People from the streets, without any planning and training are simply not able to hold four big complexes in a city so long,” Soviet special services veteran was quoted as saying by largest Russian Interfax news agency.

He also presumed that there were at least 50 attackers given the geography and scale of the strikes.

Klyukin lauded the “right” decision of the Indian authorities not to succumb to terrorist demands.

He, however, regretted that India lacks special anti-terror units similar to the Russian, Israeli, British or German.

Nearly 200 people were killed in the multiple terror attacks in the Indian financial capital, hitting five-star hotels and other targets frequented by Westerners.