No doubt that there is already lots of speculation as to who was behind it and remember, in 1995, there was lots of people pointing fingers at Islamic terrorists until it was determined that it was good old angry white dudes.
I'm tempted to joke that since the Boston Marathon takes place on the day that Patriots' Day is observed, maybe the cops ought to be looking for Loyalist sympathizers. But it wouldn't be amusing, not today.
UPDATE: 3 dead, 141 wounded. I'm not the only one who looked at the copious amount of smoke and thought about black powder.
As of two hours after and mutliple news sources
ReplyDeleteif that means anything.
Reports are 23 injured some severe, two dead.
It was according to one report small backpack explosive dropped into trash cans near the marathon finish lines. one or two have been recovered that have not detonated. There is supposed to be security footage of someone dropping a backpack into a trash can.
Eck!
I hate the speculation that starts before the echoes die down, but I have to admit, there is a lot of obvious symbolic weight to this.
ReplyDeleteTax day. Patriot's Day: the celebration of the Shot Heard 'Round the World. Near the site of the original Tea Party. Near the VIP stand, where several Newtown families were watching, as gun regulation is being debated in Washington. At the end of a race that Kenyan's, of all people, do quite well in.
It could easily be any kind of crackpot or terrorist, of course, but those thoughts did intrude.
I'm just amazed it took this long for roadside IEDs to come to our shores. And I can't imagine this not changing some fundamental things in our lives, soon.
So a friend was in a Harley-Davidson store where an employee opined "That doesn't happen here in Texas because we have guns." Hum, guess Oklahoma doesn't have guns, eh? I was thinking about black powder too, kinda ironic in light of that kind of mindset.
ReplyDeleteI was in London for the IRA Christmas bombing campaign and wonder how the U.S. would react to removal of all trash cans and such...I doubt people would be willing to give up the luxury of being able to easily toss their McD's bag and Starbucks cup easily until it really got serious.
The final determination of who will take time, the list of potential attackers is very long. People would be wise to remember what happened in Atlanta with blame before they jump on the blame the suspicious Saudi train that seems to be running right now. I ain't saying it wasn't him, but...
It won't stop the bomb but don't blame the trash can...
ReplyDeleteThey can easily make a non lethal trash can. In the 60's the City of Berkeley liked to cover the dirt of the trees planted along the streets. Kept it looking 'neat', but the bricks they used became weapons in the street war. The bricks were replaced with sand. No more weapons.
It is scary to think tho. What will we have to 'get used to' after this? Like walking around barefoot at the airport and his bomb didn't even go off!
w3ski
I thought black powder too when I saw the colour of the fireball and cloud. And apparently the docs were picking ball bearings and nails out the casualties (maybe broken glass too, which does not show up on X-rays), which also says "home-made" to me.
ReplyDeleteBut I wonder about the triggering - two bombs about 75 m away from each other, detonated within a few seconds of each other - cell phones? City of Boston was probably right to shut cell phone service down for a brief period.
You wouldn't need to go anywhere near as high-tech as cell phones. But that's a discussion that we shouldn't be having over the Internet. I see nothing to be gained by holding a clinic in bomb-making.
DeleteThe current theory is pressure cookers. No way bomb-sniffing dogs or equipment can help with that.
ReplyDelete