Bloody Boston
By Alan Caruba
In his
short statement following the bombing of the Boston marathoners on Monday, the
President did not say either “terror” or “terrorist.” This is an administration
that has virtually banished these words, but an unidentified “White House
official” did say that it was an act of terrorism within hours after the blast.
On June 1,
2009, Abuljakim Muhammed, a Muslim convert from Memphis, Tennessee, was charged
with shooting two soldiers outside a military recruiting center in Little Rock,
Arkansas. One died and the other was wounded. He claimed ties to al Qaeda and
said the attack was “to fight those who wage war on Islam and Muslims.”
Later that
year, on December 25, a Nigerian on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit,
attempted to ignite an explosive device hidden in his underwear. It failed to
detonate and, when taken into custody, instead of being treated as a combatant
in war, he was read his Miranda rights. It is noteworthy that he was already on
a government watch list thanks to a warning from his father!
In 2010, a
car bomb was discovered in Times Square, New York City. It had ignited but
failed to detonate. Faisal Shahzad pleaded guilty to the bomb attempt and ten
other terrorism and weapons charges.
Since
September 11, 2001, America 
has been remarkably free of terrorist acts on our
soil. I wish I could credit the Department of Homeland Security and the other
intelligence agencies we maintain at the cost of billions annually, but it only
takes one incident like Boston to remind us that one terrorist can wreak havoc
with a bomb or two. Reportedly, New York City detected and deterred sixteen comparable
plots since 9/11.
So, in
effect, it is now September 12, 2001 all over again.
What we
have witnessed from the President and his administration has been a display of
weakness in the face of threats from the Middle East and elsewhere around the
world. Our current Secretary of State has said he’s willing to speak directly
with North Korea’s leaders, a very major concession in the face of behavior
that should have gotten a major slap-down.
The
bombing should make us ask why this administration is sending airplanes and
tanks to Egypt, currently in the grip of an extremist Islamist government whose
president is a former leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. It should make us ask
why the administration continues to go through the motions of getting a peace
agreement out of the Palestinians when they have spent decades refusing any
terms for peace with the Israelis.
More
specifically, the bombing has the earmarks of an al Qaeda-inspired attack. In
recent times they have been encouraging individuals to undertake such attacks
and the information they need to make bombs is readily available from jihadist
websites.
Meanwhile,
the bombing will ripple out throughout our society, just as the 9/11 attacks
did. No doubt it will serve as an excuse to ratchet up what passes for security
procedures. DHS is probably adding to a new list of budget requests from
Congress. It received $46.9 billion in fiscal 2012. However, it is the FBI that
is the lead criminal investigation agency for the Boston bombing and,
thankfully, is independent of DHS.
A lot of
Americans are going to think twice about attending any event where there are
large numbers of people. It’s likely to empty out stadiums and arenas for a
while. The crowds at the Macy’s Day Parade and comparable events may be thinner
this year.
That’s how
terrorism works.
This is
not a good time to be telling Americans they have to register their guns in
triplicate or that background checks will have any effect on public safety. The
recent spate of mass killers all were crazier than Charlie Manson, nor is it a
good time for yet another doomed-to-fail plan to address illegal immigration; build
a fence and then figure out what else to do.
The lesson
to draw at this point is that we are all in for a generation or more of events
like the Boston Marathon bombing.
© Alan
Caruba, 2013
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