I've returned from my undisclosed Thanksgiving location, and I followed the horrible terror attacks reasonably closely from there.

I can't get over what seems like the staggering ineptness of the Indian security apparatus. Now, I'm no soldier, obviously, and have absolutely no expertise in, like, SWAT tactics, but it took them an unbelievable amount of time to kill as few as ten bad guys. The "siege" stretched on for so long it seemed farcical. And journalists (and bystanders!) were allowed to basically creep up right to the foot of the sites in question. It was great TV, but I can't imagine that allowing crowds within the range of an errant gunshot is at all prudent.

It also seems, as more information comes in, that the authorities learned that these were not hostage situations -- as each site was shut down, all they found were dead hostages. It seems like that would up the urgency of ending everything quickly a bit.

Even the pictures of the Indian "commandos" rushing towards the Taj were pathetic. They were guys in khakis and tennis shoes with bulletproof vests. No heavy armor. None of those giant SWAT shields and helmets we're all used to seeing from television. Isn't this the sort of situation where you'd call in the army? Doesn't Mumbai have a big counterterrorism force (the city's population is 19 million)? The guys in khakis looked like they were straight out of the Kinko's next door or something.

Weird.