Domestic Terror - a fortunate fizzle

I have no doubt he will be caught but I wonder if his motives will ever be fully understood. The "he" is the would-be murderer who loaded a SUV in New York City's famous Times Square with components of an home made bomb.Fortunately, the bomb did not properly detonate and a sharp-eyed citizen notified a police officer when he noticed smoke coming from the car.

According to Raymond W. Kelly, the New York City police commissioner, 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. Had it exploded, he said it “would have caused casualties, a significant fireball.”

So, how do you track down the culprit? Today "good old fashioned police work" also includes the review of surveillance video tapes of the Times Square area. One has already succeeded in identifying what the police call a "person of interest" who is seen stripping off a shirt near the scene of the crime.

Claims from one Taliban related group are already being dismissed out of hand.

Where's this going to lead? No one knows and no one is placing bets on any particular ideology or group. As for me, I say let's see what happens when they round up some suspects. And they will, I have no doubt about it, get to the bottom of this.

Read coverage in The New York Times.