NYC Car Bomb Scare – What Does It Mean?
You’re probably all aware that on Saturday, an attempted car bomb was found in New York City’s Times Square. Authorities have released more information about the attempt:
Raymond W. Kelly, the New York City police commissioner, said on Sunday that the materials found in the Nissan Pathfinder — gasoline, propane, firecrackers and simple alarm clocks — also included eight bags of a granular substance, later determined to be nonexplosive grade of fertilizer, inside a 55-inch-tall metal gun locker.
The bomb, Mr. Kelly said, “would have caused casualties, a significant fireball.”
The Taliban in Pakistan tried to take credit for the attempt but authorities say they see no links to them. The suspect caught on surveillance footage (see video at the link) is a white man in his 40s.
Investigators were reviewing surveillance footage that showed an unidentified man walking away from West 45th Street, where the Nissan Pathfinder had been parked. The police said the man was a “person of interest.” The man was seen in Shubert Alley, which runs between 44th and 45th Streets, looking furtively over his shoulder and removing a dark shirt, revealing a red one underneath, officials said. The man then stuffed the dark shirt into a bag, officials said.
In the case of this terrorism attempt, the system worked. The car bomb was first noticed by street vendors (who saw smoke coming out of the car) and notified police. There was also a significant amount of fertilizer in the car, but it was the non-explosive kind. There was so much fertilizer, that it may have taken multiple persons to load it into the car.
Investigators believed that the fuses on the firecrackers had been lighted, but they did not explode, officials said. The burning fuses apparently ignited a portion of the Pathfinder’s interior, causing a small fire that filled the inside with smoke, one law enforcement official said.
Because the bomb didn’t actually go off, it sounds like investigators have a lot to go on. They’ve already traced the car’s license plates to a repair shop and the other materials came from hardware stores.
I find this attempt to be rather scary, myself. In my mind it means terrorists are moving to smaller, easier targets instead of large mass-casualty attacks. These tactics are much more likely to be effective, IMO, and much harder to stop. Are we seeing a new type of al Qaeda menace (authorities have said there’s similarities with attempts in London and Glasgow linked to Iraq) or is this a rightwing domestic terrorist threat? Hopefully there was enough evidence left behind to catch the people responsible for this attempt.
Tags: New York City, Terrorism
I think we have to consider that this might be the beginning of a new wave of domestic terrorism as well – much like Oklahoma City – with its roots in an embittered right that wants to prove its usefullness again. It will be interesting to see who is responsible for this and how it changes perceptions. While it is much scarier if it is a true terrorist with foreign ties, we should be equally alarmed if this is a sign that domestic terrorism is on the rise. It would mean all of the heated rhetoric of the last year or so is finally motiving already unstable people to act in extreme ways.
Is it too early to pin this on Glenn Beck? Whe it does turn out to be a conservative nutbag I’m sure it will just be a loner with no connection mainstream “for entertainment only” violent wingnuttery
first of all, we dont know who this would be bomber is. Islamic militants are much better trained, so it is not likely one of the “usual suspects”. There is also no evidence to suggest it is domestic terrorism. (I will say it has the earmarks of white Americans because the idiots basically taped an alarm clock to a propane tank and hoped it would work)
NO doubt people like Palin, who spend most of their time going around trying to disown NY or our other big eastern cities as “not real America” will use this “attack on the homeland” to scare rednecks in Utah into giving her more money.
Even if the car bomb had been successful it would have been a relatively small-scale attack.
This half-assed attempt at a car bomb highlights our success at locking down some of the opportunities for major terrorism. After Oklahoma City, we are now tracking fertilizer purchases and rental cars. After 9/11, we locked down cockpits and airport security. It will always be possible to set off a car bomb or maybe even bring down a plane, but it is now a lot harder to pull off a major attack of any size or coordination. Until they think of something else.
It sounds like the would-be bombers are fairly amatuerish. They used the wrong kind of fertilizer, the firecrackers were not sufficient to cause any kind of explosion and the propane tanks are actually very well engineered not to explode. mistermix at Balloon Juice has details.
In the end it will be another numerous episode of right wing terrorism.
One thing I’ve noticed is how little freaking out has been going on about this incident. Why?
Because there isn’t a clear connection to the Islamic terrorists that the wingnuts and their media lackys freak out over. If this turns out to be a right wing terrorist, anyone want to guess who will remember the DHS report on domestic terrorism that the right went batshit over because they wanted to defend this kind of thing done by one of their own?
“In the case of this terrorism attempt, the system worked. The car bomb was first noticed by street vendors (who saw smoke coming out of the car) and notified police.”
The System Worked? (do you and Nappy use the same writer/talking points?)
Bomb fizzled = System Worked
Bomber overpowered by passengers = System Worked
That’s a heck of a “system” you moonbats have.
Could have been a diversion for another crime.
I think the proof that the system worked is not that these boneheads’ half-assed plans failed, but in that fact that all we’ve seen are boneheads with half-assed plans. Say what you want, but by any objective measure, the anti-terrorism tactics we’ve used since 9/11 (both Bush and Obama) have been very successful. (Obviously, BushCo went far and criminally overboard with some of their methods, like invading unrelated countries and using torture to get information that can much more reliably be obtained via other methods, but still.) Instead of getting freaked out by these little Keystone Kops terror “plots”, we should feel reassured (without being complacent) that this seems to be the best they can muster.
This is, of course, assuming the NYC event was Middle East inspired. If not, then the closest they’ve come is just Captain Underpants. If this was a domestic, right-wing event, then we don’t have to worry. We all know patriotic, white Americans can’t commit terrorism.
I happen to have arrived in Times Square yesterday and am staying one block from the scene of the car bomb attempt. Thankfully, my original plans to arrive Saturday did not work out and the bomb did not actually go off or my daughter and I would have been in the middle of a nightmare. Anyway, there are literally thousands of unfazed people all over Times Square (plus hundreds of police and media).
but don’t give up hope, they could still find a white guy to pin it on…
“I will say it has the earmarks of white Americans because the idiots basically taped an alarm clock to a propane tank and hoped it would work”
Are you serious? Please tell me that you’re not serious.
“In the end it will be another numerous episode of right wing terrorism.”
If this came from the American far-right the SUV would have been parked outside the Census or the IRS. Aiming for mass civilian causalities is the muslim MO.
I have no idea who is responsible. Whoever did this is vile and despicable. There are no “sides” in this incident, no forthcoming facts that will make it “better” or “worse.”
The car appears to have been sold to an “Arabic or Latino looking” man by its previous owner. http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/times-square-car-bomber-police-release-video-suspect/story?id=10534834
So, when it turns out the guy is a radical Muslim or someone protesting the Arizona border law, are you going to offer an apology to all the conservatives — especially the white conservatives — you folks have defamed here?
“You folks?” For someone who’s always crying about grouping everyone together you sure are guilty of the same thing. It’s very difficult to take you seriously.
whomever made the bomb certainly wasn’t trained.
it means that the Taliban would take credit for a stink bomb at hb middle if it scared the shit out of the conservatives.
that is all.
The “owner” of the SUV’s story has a real Susan Smith ring to it. Instead of falsely claiming the car was car jacked by a black man, this guy claims he sold the SUV for cash to a man of HIspanic or Middle Eastern origin. Ignoring the fact that one should be able to tell the difference both in the name (Jose v. Abraham), and the accent if the person is from an Hispanic versus Middle East region. But who would sell a vehicle without any proof. If I sold a used vehicle to a Hispanic or Middle Eastern person I would not worry that it would be used for a terrorist attack, but I would be very worried about liability. If you don’t transfer title to a vehicle and if you don’t have proof of the sale you will be on the hook for any damages the guy does in any crash. I will be surprised if the owner of the vehicle doesn’t end up being connected.
I’d look close at the owner of the SUV.
Sorry, VC, that I did not go through and list every individual on this thread who wanted to blame white men, conservatives, Glenn Beck listeners, or tea party supporters.
“So, when it turns out the guy is a radical Muslim or someone protesting the Arizona border law, are you going to offer an apology to all the conservatives — especially the white conservatives — you folks have defamed here?’
nope. Because who did you people blame when a terrorist coward flew a plane into the IRS building?…. (drum roll) the GOVERNMENT!!!! (btw, someone actually died in THAT attack) *sob sob sob* “they forced that poor patriot into it! I want my country back boooooo hooooo”
So if someone is protesting the AZ law, by your side’s own logic (right wing logic = oxymoron) it is Arizona’s fault.
That said, given the amateurish work put into the bomb, it probably was a white American who thinks you spell it “soshalest” mmmmhm Texas education. yeeeehaw!
btw thank you for the new name
sooo….. correction. it WOULD have been white people’s fault. instead the blame rests with a new breed of terrorist who seems to be on the intellectual level of a TagBagger (yes, i was wrong but that doesn’t mean i cant get another swipe in.
Actually, a.hole, I blamed the Bush-hating Marx-quoting leftist who flew the plane into the building, not the government.
Hating Bush and quoting Marx doesn’t make a person a “leftist.”
Looks like I owe the registered owner of the SUV an apology. I really thought the owner’s story sounded real fishy. I figured the owner placed the want ads on Craiglist, and another site to cover his tracks in case the bombing didn’t work, and the story about a man of Hispanic or Middle East origin was a cover story. It didn’t make sense that someone would sell a car, and not have any proof of the sale in case the new owner didn’t put the title in his or her name. But it turns out the seller was a 19 year old female. I hadn’t even bought my first car at 19, and didn’t know the importance of transferring title back then. It’s probably sexist and reflective of a youth bias, but I accept that a 19-year-old female owner of an SUV would sell the SUV for cash, and not think about the need to get any proof of sale to protect herself from financial liability for any accident the new owner has in a SUV still in her name.