Details are still coming in slowly from the attempted bombing in Times Square last night. It brings to mind the Times Square bombing two years ago, which led to the shattered windows and busted glass door in the famous Army recruitment office. I took the photo above when I'd been working in the area, and in fact was shook out of a sound sleep at about 4AM by the blast. More details on that bombing are here, and a later update is here. The suspect in that bombing was never caught.
(UPDATE: The license plate used on the vehicle has been traced to an auto recycling business about 3 miles from my home. Weird.)
Why did this attempted attack occur now? Well, just look at how the hate rhetoric has ratcheted up lately, with the implied encouragement of ultra-conservative Republicans and Fox News pundits. Tea baggers are openly carrying firearms to Tea Party rallies; not for any valid sporting purpose, but solely to intimidate the less radical percentage of the population.
Timothy McVeigh is an example of what happens when anti-government feelings are fostered. The impulse to strike out or "get even" with the government for real or imagined transgressions is subtly encouraged. There are people who, after being exposed to hours of programming daily which is relentless in it's message against the government, may act out on their own.
Fortunately, the vehicle bomb seems to have been amateurishly designed and constructed. Somehow it failed to fully ignite, almost certainly sparing the lives of many innocent bystanders. I'd guess it was designed by a couple of yokels in a barn somewhere and wasn't the work of a highly sophisticated organization.
As for the motive? As I said, it's still very early in the investigation, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear, if and when the suspects are caught, that it turns out to have been the work of
UPDATE: Okay, I was wrong; it was a naturalized US citizen from Pakistan.
But really, what were you supposed to think when they kept showing that surveillance video of the middle-aged balding white guy taking off his shirt in Times Square? That guy totally fits the stereotypical tea bagger profile!
9 comments:
My bet is young poorly trained Muslims from a New Jersey mosque.
Unexploded bombs are information-rich. We will know soon.
You may be right, but those guys usually have pretty good resources. Regardless of who it was that did this, I'm guessing they're on their own.
(notice the extreme rarity of proper use of "they're" and "their" on the internet!)
Bob, your always so good with you're grammar.
I no I yam.
SITE and Rita Katz
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/05/02/gordon-duff-time-square-bomb-hoax-israeli-intel-group-shows-its-hand/
Wow. That's kind of a reach, Anonymous.
Lies that people like anonymous believe are best ignored.
Sadly reading blogs and forums about the attempted mass murder reveals that many on the left were hoping it was a tea partier or other right wing extremist, while many on the right see a chance to blame Obama for the attempt. In short both sides look only for political capital and overlook the fact Times Square could have been turned into a slaughterhouse.
One of these attacks sooner or later will succeed and the tactics will be used as a template for further attacks. All the equipment used can be bought easily, vehicles can be stolen and future attackers will learn from the mistakes made.
There is no real security, the simplicity of this bomb means a minor tweak could make it more likely to work and how do you detect it?
Like that A-hole Bloomberg, I see no such apology from the owner of this place. Tea-party connection? NO, rightwing connection, NO. WTF is your problem? Just like Contessa Brewer being pissed that it wss'nt a RW nutjob and cringes at the thought that all THREE newest ATTACKS ahve come from Islamic Terrorists.
And since when is it only lawful to carry SPORTING GUNS? Learn the the Bill of Rights before you open your clap trap.
I'll open my clap trap any damn time I please, mister! Learn the Bill of Rights, under the bit that talks about free speech.
For the record, I did make the correction on the story as soon as they arrested the guy. But apologize to the tea baggers? Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
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