Many Americans, still buoyed by Barack Obama's election and a temporary surge in the equity markets, might have thought the whole world would be singing Kumbaya. But in India, Muslim extremists were singing Mumbai.

The tragic 60-hour siege in India's financial capital -- formerly Bombay -- resulted in at least 174 deaths and injuries to scores more.

Thus has Mumbai joined London, Madrid, New York and Washington, among others, as targets for well-planned and finely-tuned terrorist attacks on symbols of freedom and capitalism.

Muslim radicals seem to pick their targets based on two criteria: What the targets represent and their vulnerability. It took just 10 men armed with rifles and grenades to carry out their deadly mission, terrorizing a city of 18 million for several days before finally being routed in a siege at the luxury Taj Mahal hotel.

This surely exposed India's terribly vulnerable security, and it also served as a reminder to the rest us of how important security is in protecting against terrorist attacks. This is something for President-elect Obama to think about as he considers shutting down the Guantanamo prison camp in Cuba and taking starch out of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act statutes.

According to the Bush administration -- which, for all its faults, has kept us safe since 9-11 -- FISA and Gitmo have played key roles in that success.

The Mumbai siege is also a reminder that al-Qaida and like-minded groups are not interested in negotiations that might lead to peace, because their brand of radical Islam is not interested in peace. Nor is it interested in acquiring geographic territory or resolving political differences.

Islamic fanatics are focused on one goal only -- to kill their enemies. And their enemies are everyone who doesn't conform to their Islamo-fascist beliefs. Such people cannot be reasoned with, no matter how charming the president is.

All we can hope is to route the terrorists -- and, perhaps with the globally popular president-elect, gather more friends to our side.