Virginians Among Victims of Indian Attacks

By: TheGreenMiles
Published On: 11/28/2008 11:20:22 AM

With the death toll now at 145 people and still rising, the Washington Post reports a father and daughter from Virginia are among the victims:
Alan Scherr, 58, and his 13-year-old daughter, Naomi, were members of Synchronicity, a spiritual community that promotes high-tech meditation and a holistic lifestyle. The community is based in Faber, Va., about 30 miles southwest of Charlottesville in the Blue Ridge mountains.

According to a statement put out by Synchronicity Friday morning, the Alan Scherr, a professor, and his wife Kia had been part of the community for more than a decade. Alan and Naomi Scherr were on a spiritual misson to India. Some news reports said they had been staying at the Oberoi and were killed in the attack there.

Still no certainty over who's responsible for the attack.

Comments



Tom Perriello statement (Lowell - 11/28/2008 2:21:32 PM)
Tom Perriello Statement on the Deaths of Nelson County Residents in Mumbai Terrorist Attacks

November 28, 2008-Ivy, VA-Congressman-elect Tom Perriello has released the following statement in response to the tragic news of two Nelson County residents', Alan Scherr and his daughter Naomi, deaths in the Mumbai terrorist attacks.

"I am shocked and saddened by this tragic news from across the globe and from right here in our community. My prayers are with the Scherr family and members of their spiritual community during this painful time. Acts of terrorism, wherever committed, are crimes against our common humanity, and we have been reminded that conflicts abroad reverberate back home. I pledge to work tirelessly in Congress to challenge these cowardly acts and create a more stable world."



The Commonwealth weeps for the lost. (Tiderion - 11/28/2008 2:23:46 PM)
Of that I am sure.

The loss of any life is abhorrent. The loss of any American is especially tragic to all Americans as is the loss of any Virginian to all Virginians. I am sure there are those out there who are happy with these deaths. In times of tragedy such as these it is natural to want revenge. However, even in times like these, we have to weep first and then work to end this. We do not win wars by exterminating our enemy but rather by convincing them there is no reason to fight. I only hope that in the future we can see these sorts of attacks, though tragic, as reminders of what we need to do culturally and diplomatically and not reasons to bring war and tragedy to others.

I doubt that is what people want to hear but I feel it needs to be said. I wish it had been said more on 9/11/01.



Attacks in India (South County - 11/28/2008 8:59:29 PM)
A horrible event, Pakistan emerges from this as the clear central front in the war on terrorism, busting any neocons who incorrectly peddled Iraq.  After Petraeus got sworn in as CENTCOM commander, where did he fly the very next day?  The spill over effects from Pakistan onto other countries (especially its neighbors) are a big problem and are just too great to ignore.  Is this a tipping point where international pressure to get Pakistan to finally get its house in order?


We need to ascertain the sponsor (Teddy - 11/29/2008 10:08:48 PM)
of the attacks as rapidly as possible, as we have here two nuclear armed powers, one of whom Bush has made our key anti-terrorist ally, and the other to whom we just agreed to  provide nuclear material outside of the non-proliferation treaty. The FBI is supposedly helping to establish the sponsor.

Note the Pakistani President has personally called the Indian President to assure her that it was a "non-state actor," and Pakistan's government had no part in the attack, but many Indians simply find that hard to believe. Unfortunately, the United States is currently between leaders, as Bush in many ways seems to be on vacation; Obama is not yet officially in charge, and in any case appears to be pre-occupied with the faltering economy. What a Welcome Aboard Party for Obama.

Concerning the US Inauguration: infiltrating hotels along the Inauguration parade route, seizing control at an opportune moment, and using the high-level rooms as sniper spots could be a terrorist plan for the US. I expect the same thought has occurred to our national security guys.  



Terrorism (South County - 11/30/2008 1:33:44 PM)
Once the sponsor is identified, hopefully the post-event analysis can yield useful info into the tactics used and what that says about the evolution of terrorism.  One article recently noted that this may represent an important shift in terror tactics.  When the west moved to 'harden' obvious targets like air travel (TSA = Thousands Standing Around), symbolic buildings, and such, terrorists moved on to backpack bombs in subways and storming hotels.  Unable to launch higher-scale attacks, they respond with lower-scale insurgent-like shooting up hotels with AK-47's.  Also, as the U.S. became more prepared, terrorist attacks over time moved on to London, Spain, Bali, and gradually back to targets closer to home: India, Pakistan, U.S. troops in Iraq/Afghan.  Nonetheless, we still see a high degree of coordination and planning of individuals ready to die in the act.  Consistent themes remain such as hitting sympolic targets (Indian financial capital and fancy tourist hotels), targeting American, European, and Jewish folks, and trying to inflict overwhelming casualties to increase shock value.  I think the key question to ask is when do these horrible attacks begin to repulse the Islamic world?  That may be the tipping point like we saw in Iraq, when AQI went too far in its brutality and citizens in Anbar and elswhere began to reject them.  This is what makes the fight against terrorism and insurgencies the graduate level of warfare, you have to out-think, out-learn, and out-adapt, your adversary.


Non-state actors (Teddy - 11/30/2008 4:54:35 PM)
and asymmetric warfare are what we consider terrorism today. You are correct. We only have to look to the Congo, Nigeria, and Somalia to see what lack of a strong government can do in permitting a return to days of barbarism and Viking/tribal raiders. So, have Bush and the neocons decided that Mumbai is a police matter, unlike, say, the attack on the World Trade Towers? Does Mumbai require more of a police response than massive retaliation by India against Pakistan as "harboring" terrorists (after all, that was why we claimed the right to attack Afghanistan, and later Iraq)? Do as we say now, not as we did?

When terrorists attacked the nightclub in Bali, the Indonesians investigated, captured the perpetrators, tried them, and ordered their execution (which caused domestic unrest by pro-terrorist factions within the country--- but they did it). One hopes the world will reach that stage of control, where governments, including Islamic governments, reach the point where terrorists become, as anarchists did, a police matter, and are so reduced in importance and their power to de-stabilize societies. This could happen now if Pakistan cooperated in finding the mastermind of Mumbai, and turned him over to India for trial.