Times Square and International Terrorism

The lead article in today’s New York Times, titled “U.S. Seeks Arrest of Owner of S.U.V. in Bombing Case,” describes continuing developments in the investigation and an increasing likelihood of international terrorism as a contributing factor.

The authorities have continued to try to downplay the seriousness of the event, perhaps out of a wish to avoid public panic, but new facts continue to emerge. The article in today’s Times lists several of them: 1) the vehicle was a 1993 Nissan Pathfinder; 2) the owner was a naturalized U.S. citizen from Pakistan; 3) he just returned from a trip there; 4) the vehicle was bought with cash with no accompanying paperwork.

As a result of these factors, the investigation was turned over to Joint Terrorism Task Force, a federal unit specially formed to react to these cases.

One has to wonder why, with international experience, the man did such a poor job in constructing the bomb. This is similar to the Christmas Day bomber who also seemed to lack any basic knowledge of chemistry. I mean even someone like Timothy McVeigh was able to destroy an entire building.

Perhaps, this is a vulnerability of Al Qaeda we can exploit in some way. They are relying more and more on “lone wolves” who do not have any background in explosives. Perhaps, we can plant some false information on how to make them at key points on the Internet, if we haven’t done so already.