Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann has been ridiculed for alleging that President Obama’s trip to India, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan is costing $200 million a day or roughly the same cost of waging war in Afghanistan. It has long been the White House’s official policy not to talk about what it costs for a president to travel, but Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications, participated in a podcast from the White House to address some other questions about President Obama’s trip to Asia.

Blast asked him to describe the “logistical challenges of the President spending a few days on the other side of the globe” and here’s how he answered:

Well, it’s an interesting question. There’s an extraordinary amount of work that goes into planning and executing any presidential trip. You have the advance teams that go out and look at the different sites that the president will be visiting. You have the embassy or your consulate on the ground that is coordinating those stops. And you, of course, have our staff here at the White House and the State Department working to plan the president’s trip.

That’s the balance we try to strike. A good and successful trip is one that allows us to do a lot of official business, but also to reach out beyond the halls of government to again engage with peoples from different countries.

The response was edited for length.

MUMBAI, India — In a newly crafted display window, tucked in the back corner of the lobby of the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel, was a piece of art, aptly named the “Tree of Life.” The work, beside a plaque listing the names of those who had perished in the Taj, was all that remained visible of the day that terrorists had stormed the lobby, and held hostage its guests and staff. In front of the window, hotel guests lined up to sign their named in a book, writing things like, “The spirit of the Taj is uncrushable,” and, “terrorism will not prevail.”

These sorts of comments have come to engender the spirit of the Indian population. As a nation, India has endured nearly one terror attack every month since last July, and lost over 2000 people to these attacks in the past year, but in the face of terror, the country has always bounced back immediately. Though the Indian media jumped at the chance to compare they day they dubbed “26/11″ to 9/11, the societal reactions haven’t compared.

When I made my first visit to New York, two months after the assault on the twin towers, the city was still in deep mourning, wreaths, candles, and photos of missing loved ones plastering every corner of the metropolis. When I eventually moved there three years later, the photos of missing people had vanished, but little else had changed. After seven years, New York City is still having trouble moving on. Every September 11th the city fills the skyline with two perpetual spotlights in place of the towers. Bagpipe players mourn for the dead in the streets of the Financial District, as throughout the day all the names of those who were lost when the towers crumbled are read aloud. As we come into 2009 the site of the twin towers is still nothing more than a gigantic hole in the ground, an open wound that refuses to allow New York City to move on. The Financial District is still a comparative ghost town.

The Taj a month later/KRISTEN V. BROWN FOR BLAST MAGAZINE

One month to the day after gunmen entered the Taj Mahal Hotel on November 26, the lobby of the hotel looked once again as it always had. In the hours of the attacks, the perfectly polished marble floors were stained with blood, the stately atmosphere muffled by screams and sprays of bullets. But by December 26, the hotel that had once played host to Mick Jagger, Jackie Kennedy and The Beatles had regained its regal composure, the lobby decorated for Christmas as it buzzed with equal mixes of tourists and the well to-do. Easily the most majestic landmark of the Mumbai skyline, the Taj is an architectural marvel that has played host to many of the worlds most powerful since it first opened its doors in 1903, founded by industrialist Jamshedji Tata, as the first luxury hotel in the city that booked Indian as well as white guests.

The day after the firing stopped, Indian papers and news stations reported of an eerie ghost town Mumbai had become. But by that time , everyone was already back at work. And only one month after the attack on Mumbai, life had once again become de rigueur, at least partially because for Indians, unlike Americans and 9/11, terrorism is the norm. In New York, we obsessed over the events of 9/11 for years, letting our obsession dominate our public space, and keep us from resuming our normal lives. In India, even though the Mumbai attacks were thus far unprecedented and surely have had a lasting impact on the people of Mumbai, Mumbaikers have learned not to let terrorism get the best of them. They pull together, go back to work, and refuse to let such evil misdeeds interfere with their way of living.

Pakistan has canceled all military leave and increased troop numbers in regions bordering Jammu and Punjab in northwest India, the Times of India reports.

A little further south, in the area bordering Ganganagar, India, Pakistan has reportedly begun renovating old bunkers, as well as constructing new ones. ‚ 

Pakistan’s troops are, in some places, as close as six miles from the border. ‚ According to the Geneva Convention, no country can deploy troops within 1.8 miles of the border unless war is‚ officially‚ declared.

In response, India has moved some of its troops closer to the border. ‚ India’s Border Security Forces (BSF) have provided the government with intelligence, specifically the number of troops being deployed by Pakistan and the types of weapons they are carrying. ‚ This way, they would be prepared if, let’s hope not, anything goes down.

India has also begun telling its citizens that it is unsafe for them to be in Pakistan, the Times of India reports. ‚ They’ve also asked the U.S., China and Iran to put some pressure on Pakistan to act against those involved in the Mumbai terror attacks.

It seems that it’s getting worse there by the minute. ‚ Moving troops within miles of war is bad enough, but India actually telling its citizens they are unsafe in another country is an official sign that something will go down soon if Pakistan doesn’t buckle down and cooperate. ‚ 

Other countries may not officially say it, but they are all thinking it. ‚ Pakistan needs to actually help the‚ investigation, not just say they will. ‚ If they don’t things could get worse, and no one wants to see these two countries go at it. ‚ Trust me.

Pakistani media is reporting that the country’s military is now on “high alert” over a possible attack by neighbour India, Al Jazeera reports.

The announcement came Monday after Indian officials handed over a letter by the last surviving terrorist from November’s Mumbai tragedy that killed nearly 170 people.

The letter confirmed accusations that all 10 terrorists hailed from Pakistan, India’s Foreign ministry reports.

The navy, air force and army are all on “red alert.”

Obviously, I don’t think attacking Pakistan is the answer. ‚ These two countries have enough problems, starting a string of attacks between the two isn’t going to solve anything.

Then again, the people of India are demanding some sort of action be taken in response to these attacks, especially now since it has been confirmed that all attackers were from Pakistan.

Indian officials have said that they will “explore all options” to ensure Pakistan cracks down on these kinds of cross-border attacks. ‚ They also called for more international pressure to be put on Pakistan, in an effort to make them co-operate in investigations.

I agree with that, there’s a lot more Pakistan can do. ‚ They’ve‚ arrested‚ some people but refuse to really do anything with them. ‚ Extraditing them to India makes sense to me, but not for them, since the arrested are citizens of Pakistan and many of them have no direct connection to the attacks.

No matter what happens, tensions are increasing between these two rivals, and will continue to increase until something groundbreaking happens.

So there’s this guy,‚ Amit Karkhanis, who went to a court in India and pleaded that Google Earth be banned in the country, TimesOnline reports.

For those who don’t know, it is suspected that the terrorists involved in the Mumbai attacks used Google Earth to help plan their mission last month, which led to the deaths of nearly 180 and the injuries of more than 300.

This isn’t the only time GE has been used for evil. ‚ British officials learned that the program was used to plan the attacks on a British base in Basra, Iraq last year. ‚ The Iraqi insurgents used the images to plan a detailed attack on the base as clear images of individual building were accessible.

After that, Google replaced the images with predated ones, before the base was even constructed.

As of two days ago, India’s most important atomic facility, the Bhaba Atomic Research Centre (BARC)‚ remained‚ viewable on GE, even after a complaint was filed last year.

Indian officials have increased security at airports amid hijacking threats. ‚ It is one possibility, sources say, that someone could hijack a plane and fly it into BARC, which would cause a huge nuclear explosion.

Makes sense to replace some images, like the one of BARC, with less‚ compromising‚ ones. ‚ That being said, should the whole program be banned in a country where terrorist attacks have been so prevalent, especially over the last few years?

Not a bad pre-emptive strike.

As India struggles to answer questions regarding last week’s tragedy, Home Minister Shivraj Patil, India’s highest-ranking security official, resigned Sunday, taking responsibility for the failure of the country’s intelligence services to stop the attacks, according to the International Herald Tribune.

Patil, who had been under wide scrutiny even before the attacks, was responsible for public safety and internal security. He fell under the radar after it became evident Parliament received a report last year indicating that Mumbai could be easily infiltrated by water.

The terrorists sneaked into the country by sea.

Officials told news media that the terrorists had planned a much larger attack than the one they were able to carry out.

“We found bullets with them, hand grenades, bombs” said R. R. Patil, deputy chief minister of Maharashtra state, where Mumbai is located. “Based on our investigation, we believe they had planned to kill 5,000.”

Patil’s resignation could hamper the investigation; his departure could possibly delay aid from external police agencies like Interpol, who’ve offered their help and are currently waiting for official permission to enter the country.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh replaced Patil with Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, who has immediately started to overhaul India’s security forces by doubling the size of the 7,400-member National Security Guard, reports IHT.

Ever since the attacks, Indian officials have been investigating the terrorists and their possible ties to Pakistan.

An Indian news network recently showed photographs of a phone log revealing calls to Pakistan. The log had been taken from telephones that were found aboard an abandoned boat off the coast of Mumbai, the same boat that had been used the terrorists to enter the country.

Security forces at the Taj hotel have also come under some scrutiny. Many believe that, since they did receive indication of an impending attack, it could have been prevented.

Ratan Tata, chairman of Taj hotels and Tata group, told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria that measures to protect the entrance of his hotel would not have stopped the terrorists.

“They came from somewhere in the back. They planned everything” he said of the attackers. “I believe the first thing they did, they shot a sniffer dog and his handler. They went through the kitchen, they knew what they were doing.”

It is believed that the lax increase in security at the Taj following the indication of an impending attack is what largely led to Patil’s resignation.

Several media outlets, including India’s NDTV, are reporting that the last remaining perpetrators of attacks that claimed the lives of more than 150 people have been killed in Mumbai’s Taj Palace and Tower Hotel.

However, the Director general of the National Security Guard (NSG) indicated that while the terrorists have been killed, the operation is not yet over.‚  “I can’t say that our operation is over,” he said, according to the CNN-IBN. “To make sure that there is no other threat, we are still searching each and every room of the hotel.”

Stick with Blast for more.

Top Indian news agencies, quoting police sources, are reporting that the standoff with attackers at the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai has ended.

Since Wednesday, 150 people have been killed in the violence that began with well-coordinated attacks at 10 sites across India’s financial capital.

Fifteen non-Indians have also been killed, including two New York-area Rabbis.

Stick with Blast Magazine News for more information.

Gunmen open fired at a number of locations across Mumbai Thursday morning, killing more than 100 people, injuring more than 300 and taking several hostages from luxury hotels usually inhabited by foreigners, according to CNN.

While India has frequently blamed terrorist attacks on Islamic militants and extremists in Pakistan, this attack comes at a time during which Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has been advocating closer relations with India; he even suggested a joint terrorism combat force.

Some analysts believe Zardari’s advocacy to become closer allies with India contributed to the attacks.‚  Some even believe it caused the attacks.‚  Many Islamic militant groups would see such a partnership as befriending a sworn enemy, one with whom they have a long history of tension and disagreement.

The terror attacks differ in many ways from attacks that are usually reported.‚  Rather than use suicide bombers of place bombs at several sites, the attackers actually open fired on innocent bystanders and took hostages.

The attackers openly engaged with civilians and armed Indian forces, clearly on some sort of meticulously organized mission.‚  The attackers had command centers set up at two hotels in India’s financial and entertainment capital.

While an organization has taken responsibility for the attack (the Deccan Mujahideen, though doubts about their existence still linger, some believe the name may be a front for another organization), Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has repeatedly stressed the attack was carried out by militants based outside India with an eye for targeting foreigners in Mumbai’s streets, as well as in the prestigious Trident/Oberoi Hotel and the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel.

Singh stressed the need for stronger measures on terrorism and has vowed to track down the perpetrators at all costs.

The attacks are getting very much attention in the West, more than usual for something that took place thousands of miles away.‚  The reason being that it seems the targets of the attacks were largely westerners, which would mean tensions between Pakistan and India cannot be blamed.

Whatever the reason for the attacks, they must still be condemned.‚  Pakistan is however urging India not to jump to conclusions.

Indian officials say they have captured nine suspects and killed six others.

Stick with Blast for ongoing analysis.

As part of the breaking news coverage of the sudden attacks that took place today in Mumbai, India, Blast has received webcasts from the South Asian Journalists Association who covered these events via live blog talk radio.

Suketu Mehta, author of “Maximum City: Bombay Lost & Found,” Madhu Bhatia Jha, US correspondent for the Indian network Star News and Smriti Mundhra, a NYC-based filmmaker calling from Mumbai and is five blocks from attacks, are sharing their acounts from the attacks which began at 1 a.m., time of India.

Mundhra also explained that, “Its total chaos over here. Army and navy have been called in to assist police. The attackers are everywhere-in hotels, on the streets, in vans. They are firing indiscriminately.”

Blast will continue covering these events.

‚ 

At least 80 people have been killed, 250 injured and more held hostage in Mumbai, India, in coordinated terror attacks, according to news agencies.

The attackers, armed with machine guns, bombs and grenades struck at least seven sites throughout Mumbai Wednesday and were holding Western hostages at two hotels, according to NBC news.

“We have reports of 80 people dead and at least 250 injured. Many have serious injuries and the toll will go up,” P.D. Ghadge, a police officer in the main control room in Mumbai, told Reuters.

The locations included luxury hotels, a police station and a train station.

Indian television reported that one of the victims is Hemant Karkare, the chief of India’s anti-terrorist squad in Mumbai.

Authorities are saying that Westerners, especially British and American civilians, have been targeted.

Blast will bring more details forth as they emerge.