Gun Restricting Nightmare

"Crimes that involve technology usually make the police very nervous,"

Mumbai attackers more tech savvy than the police

the latest tech gadgetry.

MUMBAI, India – When the attackers arrived on the shores of Mumbai last month, they had studied satellite images of the city, were carrying handheld GPS sets and were communicating with their handlers via the Internet and satellite phone.

Many of the Indian police they encountered did not even have walkie-talkies.

The Mumbai gunmen not only overwhelmed security forces with their weaponry and willingness to die, but also with their sophisticated use of technology, security experts said.

"These (terrorists) are well aware of the technology available and also know that the police are several steps behind. And a lot of this technology is extremely easy to use and to learn," said Pavan Duggal, a technology expert and New Delhi-based lawyer.

India's underfunded and poorly trained police force is simply unable to compete, experts said.

"Crimes that involve technology usually make the police very nervous," Duggal said.

link:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081214/ap_on_re_as/as_india_shooting_technology

Disarming the public is the biggest nightmare I can imagine: it left Mumbai, and any other gun-restricting cities, wide open to attack, technology or not.

New York and all other major cities should loosen up, not tighten, current concealed carry laws.

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[Link: blog.wired.com...]

How Gadgets Helped Mumbai Attackers
By Noah Shachtman December 01, 2008

The Mumbai terrorists used an array of commercial technologies -- from Blackberries to GPS navigators to anonymous e-mail accounts -- to pull off their heinous attacks.

For years, terrorists and insurgents around the world have used off-the-shelf hardware and software to stay ahead of bigger, better-funded authorities. In 2007, former U.S. Central Command chief Gen. John Abizaid complained that, with their Radio Shack stockpile of communications gear, "this enemy is better networked than we are." The strikes that killed at least 174 appears to be another example of how wired today's "global guerrillas" can be.

And yet all that tech could have been thwarted by a few effective, armed opponents is the first few minutes.

Web comments:

They might get a few to start with, but they will probably pick places with "gun free zones" stickers to begin, using our own system against us since they do have some smarts...

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Apart from a 9/11-style attack (or N-B-C, of course), the worst way to hit America would be to mount a Mumbai-style attack on a U.S. City. The shock and pain from actually "losing" a City (even if just for a few hours) would be devastating.

Many have said that the police or the "armed veterans" would swoop into the rescue, but real life says otherwise. We'd eventually fight back, of course, but the damage done would be far more valuable to the terror-cause than our immediate reprisals. In fact, I'm guessing that hundreds of innocent Americans would be dead before anyone even mobilized to fight.

I'm sure a lot of people on this site are Vets, so they'll know that even if your entire Battalion is in the barracks, wide awake and ready to go, it'll still take 45 minutes to an hour to issue weapons and ammo. Imagine how long it would take to outfit the Cops?

The only surprise here is that anyone is surprised. Tech is expanding exponentially and if security forces are relying on stuff even five years old they are living in the Stone Age. Hell, I just saw an ad for night vision goggles for kids...and so did a lot of bad guys. How soon will these gizmos be showing up in police reports?

Link:

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/32177_Dark_Ages_Savages_with_21st_Century_Tech/comments/#ctop