Murder may be most foul when random and arbitrary, partly because the murderers may thus be imagining themselves God's equals, entitled to administer the ultimate in verdicts. Such was the character of a callous outbreak of killings in India by Pakistan-based terrorists, a hellish episode masterfully reconstructed by Terror in Mumbai, an HBO documentary.

The group's leaders have chosen an insanely profane name for themselves: The Army of the Righteous, a terrorist faction whose leaders openly aspire to increasing the amount of fear in the world. They are not connected with al-Qaeda, they say, but they share much of its jargon and degraded desires.

They would also like to be as widely reviled as al-Qaeda; how's that for lofty ambition? Professing no interest in noble goals, some young men opt instead for the lowliest imaginable. As documented by HBO's one-hour report, the killings were reprehensible in the extreme - a callous demonstration of raw and arrogant evil.