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.

The Taliban- Anything to laugh at?

There is humor everywhere you look. Even when dealing with Jihadists. This from the Internet.

YOU MAY BE A TALIBAN IF....

1. You refine heroin for a living, but you have a moral objection to beer.
2. You own a $3,000 machine gun and $5,000 rocket launcher, but you can't afford shoes.
3. You have more wives than teeth.
4. You wipe your butt with your bare left hand, but consider bacon"unclean."
5. You think vests come in two styles: bullet-proof and suicide.
6. You can't think of anyone you haven't declared Jihad against.
7. You consider television dangerous, but routinely carry explosives in your clothing.
8. You were amazed to discover that cell phones have uses other than setting off roadside bombs.
9. You have nothing against women and think every man should own at least two.
10. You've always had a crush on your neighbor's goat.

'nuf said.

Happenings in the Back Country of Pakistan - Police living and leaving in fear

MSNBC says "Pakistan police losing terrorism fight" and lays out an AP report: Officers outgunned and underfinanced compared with insurgents .

"BADABER, Pakistan - Brothers Mushtaq and Ishaq Ali left the police force a month ago, terrified of dying as their colleagues had — beheaded by militants on a rutted village road before a shocked crowd.
They went straight to the local Urdu-language newspaper to announce their resignation. They were too poor to pay for a personal ad, so the editor of The Daily Moon, Rasheed Iqbal, published a news story instead. He has run dozens like it.
"They just want to get the word out to the Taliban that they are not with the police anymore so they won't kill them," said Iqbal. "They know that no one can protect them, and especially not their fellow policemen."

Tough crowd these Taliban. But importantly, the Pakistan government does not seem interested in bolstering their police by paying them more money, or dare I say, taking the battle against the Taliban seriously.

Some ally we've got there in Pakistan.