Two bombings and a knife attack on Saturday focus renewed attention on Americans’ safety and security at home. But the initial hemming and hawing by officials and armchair pundits as to whether these inherently horrible events fit the preordained definition of “terrorism” is about as useful as questioning the intent of the bombs that exploded in New York and New Jersey.
The Saturday night explosion that injured 29 people in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood — an area packed with restaurants, various business and, typically, people — was preceded by what authorities described as a pipe bomb that exploded near the route of a Marine Corps charity run in New Jersey, where, by sheer happenstance, nobody was injured. Police also found five pipe bombs near a train station in Elizabeth, N.J.
Also on Saturday, a man who reportedly referenced Allah stabbed nine people at the Crossroads Center Mall in Minnesota. The attacker was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer.
Each episode, separately, is unsettling. But a duly concerned public is not reassured by elected leaders and/or politicos parsing the “intention” of these deadly acts, which is obvious. Whether initiated by unassociated individuals or domestic groups or by international agents of Islamofacism waving the ISIS flag, these were planned acts that specifically targeted civilians to instill terror.
America once again is reminded that it remains in the cross hairs of terrorists, homegrown or otherwise. That demands civilians’ continuous vigilance.
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