New York: The 26/11 Mumbai attacks happened due to one of the “most devastating near-misses in the history of spycraft” in which American, British and Indian intelligence agencies failed to pull together all the strands gathered by their high-tech surveillance to thwart the assault on India’s commercial capital, according to an investigative report.
A detailed report by the New York Times, ProPublica and the PBS series “Frontline” titled In 2008 Mumbai Killings, Piles of Spy Data, but an Uncompleted Puzzle said: “The hidden history of the Mumbai attacks reveals the vulnerability as well as the strengths of computer surveillance and intercepts as a counter-terrorism weapon.
What happened next may rank among the most devastating near-misses in the history of spycraft. The intelligence agencies of the three nations did not pull together all the strands gathered by their high-tech surveillance and other tools, which might have allowed them to disrupt a terror strike so scarring that it is often called India’s 9/11,” said the lengthy report.
Citing classified documents leaked by Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor, it said although electronic eavesdropping often yields valuable data, even “tantalising” clues can be missed if the technology is not closely monitored, the intelligence gleaned from it is not linked with other information, or analysis does not sift incriminating activity from the ocean of digital data.
In one of the most glaring intelligence failures, the report said Indian and British intelligence agencies monitored online activities of a key 26/11 planner, Zarrar Shah, the technology chief of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, “but couldn’t connect the dots” before the attacks that killed 166 people, including six Americans.
HOW NOT TO SPY
- The Target: Zarrar Shah, technology chief of Pakistan’s Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT)
- Who was watching: The British and Indian agencies spied on his online activities,
- The surveillance failed as they did not coordinate their efforts
- The US picked up signs of a plot and passed on the information to Indian agencies
- Suspect activity: In 2008 Fall, Shah “roamed from outposts in the northern mountains of Pakistan to safe houses near the Arabian Sea, plotting 26/11.”
- Crucial slip: David Headley was not under US scanner till 2009. US ignored reports of his unhappy wife who told Amer-ican officials that he was a Pakistan terrorist conducting mysterious missions in Mumbai.
- Data source?: Classified documents leaked by Edward Snowden was cited in the investigative report by NYT
- Lessons Learnt: Electronic EAVESDROPPING yields valuable data, but clues can be missed if it is not monitored and intelligence gleaned from it was not linked to other analysis does not sift incriminating activity from the ocean of digital data.
