Investigative journalists Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott Clark conducted a level of research for The Siege: Three Days of Terror Inside the Taj that has eclipsed any official investigations. Not only did they relive the events through the victims, security forces and officials, but they also interviewed terrorists. They talked to the Lashkar-e-Taiba co-founder. They visited the families of the terrorists, and had access to the lead Pakistani investigator before he was murdered in Islamabad. These interviews were combined with court documents, mobile phone intercepts, police evidence books, interrogation reports and even visits to Lashkar training camps. This book is the definitive guide to what actually happened and why.
So when the authors make claims that David Headley, the American Lashkar operative who conducted planning and reconnaissance for the attack, was probably a US intelligence source at the time, their allegations come with a hint of credibility. A former heroin smuggler and DEA-informant, Headley was highly-valued by Lashkar. If, in fact, he was reporting back to Langley while working for Lashkar, he would have been one of their most prized CT assets. LeT at this time was branching out to global operations and the intelligence community was scrambling to keep tabs on its activities. LeT’s trust would also have given Headley fringe access to Al-Qaeda, still a top US national priority at the time.
Some have criticized the US for running Headley as a source while he was radicalized. What they don’t realize is that often the best source of information comes from within the enemy and that comes at a risk. Indian officials have privately acknowledged that keeping a measure of control over Headley was the right thing to do, but lamented that the US did not share his identity with them. However, you can be damn sure that RAW doesn’t share the identities of their most sensitive high-level sources with the CIA, it just doesn’t work that way. But I digress.
Some of the most fascinating parts of the book cover the recruitment and training of the young fedayeen. We journey with them through the brutal year-long course that transformed the impressionable youths into hardened fanatical killers. Without a doubt, they would have fired more rounds preparing for OPERATION BOMBAY than the entire Mumbai police force put downrange in a year.
Once trained, they were shown their targets using videos recorded by Headley, the American operative. Levy and Scott Clark describe how ‘The Owls’, Lashkar’s IT and communications specialists, showed the fedayeen trainees how to use Google Earth and ‘Street View’ to do a virtual reconnaissance. They were able to utilize the 3D model of the Taj on Google Earth to conduct interior walkthroughs, models that were paid for with the hotel’s marketing budget.
Within the pages we also learn of Lashkar’s support network in India. Assets like ‘Honey Bee’, ISI’s New Delhi-based agent inside the Indian security forces, who supplied training manuals and maps, and ‘The Mice’, a logistics element located in Mumbai. ‘The Mice’ purchased fashionable clothes for the terrorists, transforming them from bearded backwater Pakistanis, into clean-shaven backpack-carrying Indian students.
There is no doubt in my mind that The Siege: Three Days of Terror Inside the Taj is the most comprehensive account of what remains one of the most sophisticated Islamist terrorist attacks since 9/11. The research is unparalleled, and the details are combined into a well-crafted story that gives insight into the people on all sides of the attack and the reasons why it was so effective. Five stars and a must read for anyone working or interested in the world of counter-terrorism.
Jack Silkstone is the author of the PRIMAL series. His latest book, PRIMAL Mirza, tells the story of a Lashkar terror plot against New Delhi and features a variety of Indian SOF units including Para Commandos, Special Group, and the National Security Guards.
Get PRIMAL Mirza on Amazon
Catch up with Jack Silkstone at primalunleashed.com
For more on the tactics of LeT, read the series by Escape The Wolf:
- LET, A Smarter Breed of Terrorist: Lashkar-e-Taiba – Part 1
- The New Al Qaeda. LeT Part 2: Pakistani Intelligence (ISI) and Tactics
- Terrorists Embrace Technology: LeT Part 3
(Featured Image Courtesy: IBN Live)
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