Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson wasn’t right when he said that no one was hurt in the New York City bombings this weekend, but he did allude to a point for which we should all be grateful: This wasn’t nearly the American tragedy that it could have been. That’s cold comfort for the victims – at least one of whom was critically injured – but we’ve all seen just how tragic these things can be. This summer’s Pulse nightclub shooting is just one of (far too many) examples. This time, it appears we got off easy.
Even so, at least 29 people were injured on Saturday when a pressure cooker-type bomb went off in New York City’s neighborhood of Chelsea. The explosion followed one that went off in Seaside Park Saturday morning as well as another planted – but ultimately unexploded – bomb in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Authorities believe the same man is responsible for all three bombs.
That man, we assume, is Ahman Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old Afghani immigrant. As of Monday, there was a nationwide manhunt for the suspected terrorist, and federal authorities conducted New York City raids this weekend in an attempt to find him and his accomplices, if there are any.
“I believe we’re going to find out that this was influenced by foreign sources,” said New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Fox News Channel.
Reuters reported on Monday that U.S. officials were talking about the possibility of a full-blown Islamic terror cell in relation to the bomb plot. This revelation, said Fox News, “came hours after federal authorities on Sunday night conducted a traffic stop in Brooklyn of a ‘vehicle of interest’ in the bombings. A law enforcement source told Fox News that a ‘number of individuals’ who are possibly connected to the explosions were taken into custody. At least five men were being questioned.”
It’s all but futile to comment too deeply on these attacks in the first couple of days; information changes swiftly as investigators carry out their work. But regardless of what we discover in the coming weeks – no matter what non-Islamic motives the Obama administration can attribute these bombings to – we already know the core truth of what happened. The moment the suspect’s name was released, we all knew.
Now, even before we have all the facts, we begin the long, tentative period of waiting.
Waiting for the next one.
