On the fog of war:
The MARCOS were launched (early on November 27) when those who sought assistance (the Maharashtra government) did not even know what was happening. There was zero information. This is called the fog of war. It is not specific to this incident, it happens every time there is armed conflict.
There is a dense fog of war and you are expected to deliver a very clear result very quickly. It cannot happen, it is not possible.
So in terms of a response mechanism, something should have kicked in which got the necessary information for rational decision making. Somebody should have decided whether it was a gang war, an attack by the Mumbai underworld, what was the nature of the threat, what are they seeking to achieve, how many people were there etc.
By the way, it's not ten people as they are saying, some people have got away.
On how information should have been obtained in real time:
Secondly, there should have been a bunch of senior experienced people who have overseen such ops, from the military, the police, intelligence, NSA (National Security Adviser). We are fabulous at creating committees, we should have had a body like this with nominated members which included a psychologist.
When you're dealing with terrorists, you need an understanding of who the guys are. This kind of a body should have been there, which should have immediately sat down and should have been given connectivity, so that information starts flowing to them, right down to the point where the action is occurring.
This information needs to be got in real time and needs to be passed down to the guy at the ground. I am sure we have very good people who can constitute this team.
The first thing is to establish contact. If they (the terrorists) don't want that then you know it's something else, that they've already killed ten people. Then you switch to plan B, C or D.
Who was taking the decisions? Who were the mythical guys in the government who were supposed to collate information and decide on the response?
Image: The Taj Mahal hotel engulfed in smoke during a gun battle, November 29. Photograph: Arko Datta/Reuters.
Also read: 'Terrorists released some gas'
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