Journalist Sebastian Rotella of ProPublica (Photo: Lars Klove—www.propublica.org)
Investigative journalist Sebastian Rotella of ProPublica has meticulously reconstructed what went on behind the scene as the Lashkar-i-Taiba (the Army of the Pure) plotted the audacious Mumbai terror strikes in November, 2008. This is journalism at its very best. I strongly recommend you read the piece.
This story has greatly fascinated me from the day it started unfolding here in Chicago. I have covered all the court appearances key Mumbai terror plotter David Coleman Headley (formerly known as Daood Gilani) and his fellow accused Dr. Tahawwur Hussain Rana and have been trying to gather information to eventually write a book. However, my efforts have led me nowhere so far with either the prosecution or the defense or the investigators in terms of getting any information other than what is furnished in the court documents.
Rotella, on the other hand, has managed to painstakingly dig out enough material to build a powerful narrative. It is a tribute to his skills as a journalist as much as it is a sorry reflection on my failure. Covering court cases is the easiest form of journalism (apart from news conferences) in the sense that it involves nothing much more than taking down notes like an efficient stenographer and asking a few intelligent questions of the attorneys concerned. That I have done without any effort whatsoever.
What is not easy what Sebastian Rotella has done by tapping a large number of diverse sources, both on and off the record. To be fair to me, it is only a question of deciding to go after this story with everything I have got. And I have been doing so for the past few weeks. Perhaps by 2012 I will have a substantial book on the Mumbai strikes ready. But until then, kudos to Sebastian Rotella for persisting with this story and producing consistently good work.
There has been some speculation over whether the US security/intelligence establishment was lax, either by default or design, when it came to monitoring Headley’s many trips to India and Pakistan despite knowing about his increasingly dubious activities. For me the key question has always been the ease with which Headley, who was most likely being monitored, traveled unmolested. His change of name from Daood Gilani to Headley is highly unlikely to have changed his social security number, although it is not altogether impossible. If that number had remained the same, his assumption of a new name would not have materially changed anything for the investigative agencies.
The purpose of this post is limited to applauding Sebastian Rotella. So give it up.