INDIA WARNED US ON TERRORISM – AT 9:09 A.M. ET:  We're a bit hypocritical on this.  While we oppose WikiLeaks, we are learning from the purloined documents it's released.  This is a warning from India.  Islamic terrorists may look very different in the future.  From The Times of India:

WASHINGTON: Some five months before the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack, India had warned the US about increasing " white faces" in terrorist camps along Pak-Afghan border and the attempt by jihadi groups to acquire fissile material to "fabricate a crude bomb beyond a dirty bomb."

According to a US diplomatic cable dated May 30, 2008, released by WikiLeaks the then National Security Advisor M K Narayanan had said this during a meeting with the visiting American Senators Russ Feingold and Bob Casey in New Delhi.

According to the cable, Narayanan told the Senators that the US-India relationship amounts to much more than just trade links and defence deals, but rather benefits from a mutual empathy.

Asked about terrorism, Narayanan related that training camps on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border have attracted more "white faces."

"He also noted jihadi groups have attempted to acquire fissile material and have the technical competence to manufacture an explosive device beyond a mere dirty bomb," the cable said.

COMMENT:  Readers may recall that our own coverage of the Mumbai attacks benefited enormously from the on-the-scene reporting of reader Renee Nielsen, whose work was superb.

We have two warnings here – that jihadist groups are recruiting Westerners with "white" faces, making them harder to detect, and that these groups have the competence to go nuclear, if they can get the materials. 

This is one of a number of recent warnings that Al Qaeda and allied groups are advancing their technical capabilities.  I don't think we'll take this very seriously until we're woken up one morning by the ticking of a Geiger counter.

February 3, 2011