Terror at Times Square

“We are very lucky!” these are Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s words. New Yorkers avoided what could have been a very deadly event.

A crude car bomb of propane, gasoline and fireworks was discovered in a smoking Nissan Pathfinder in the heart of Times Square on Saturday evening, prompting the evacuation of thousands of tourists and theatergoers on a warm and busy night. Although the device had apparently started to detonate, there was no explosion, and early on Sunday the authorities were still seeking a suspect and motive.

This time around I would like the focus on the fact that all articles I have read about this incident, if it is on BBC, the Telegraph, the Daily Mail or even the Wall Street Journal; all expressed the same tone of language. One can correlate this to the idea that they are sending out a message such as: We are in control.

By giving all the information available for the public to see, is something very unusual for the United States, here again we can detect a subconscious flair of we are in control of the situation and will find those responsible. There is a cool air about the way the articles are written; in a rather calm manner considering that this was in fact a serious bomb threat. This reassures the public.

The federal bureau of investigation quickly followed leads and were able to determine a suspect. Authorities traced the suspect to the airport.

Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Customs and Border Protection officials at the airport ordered that the flight be stopped before takeoff. Napolitano said they were able to arrest Shahzad on the plane and turned him over to the FBI -- though she declined to say how he was able to board the flight if he was on the No Fly list.

At the end of the day, no one was hurt; we can categorize this event as a failed terrorist act because this is indeed what this was: a terrorist act. This time around maybe not by any specific terrorist group but a cruel act of violence from one individual nonetheless.

It is argued that this attempt of bombing might be related to the recent South Park cartoon episode which portrayed Prophet Muhammad. Although this act of violence is in no way forgivable since it was meant to harm many, it has to be said that during the harsh times of today, some sort of censorship or restriction should exist for show such as South Park. Provoking the Muslim society is not something we need at the moment and certainly not through means of a vulgar cartoon show.