The car bomb in Times Square in New York City was noticed by two street vendors who alerted the police. The bombing was stopped, and the investigation begun. Today, the Washington Times reports on how the suspect was found and arrested.
Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistani who had just returned from a five-month trip to Pakistan, was arrested at John F. Kennedy airport as he attempted to leave the country.
Mr. Shahzad had removed the vehicle identification number from the dashboard of the vehicle, but had not removed it from the engine block. That number allowed the police to trace the vehicle and its sale.
The SUV was packed with fireworks. propane gas tanks, and fertilizer. The NYPD bomb squad has stated that they felt the fertilizer used was not volatile enough to explode. I'm glad that is only theory and we are not dealing with the results of the bomb.
Regardless of the reasons for this attempted bombing (the South Park connection, etc.), the attempt should make us more aware that there are people out there (and unfortunately here too) that mean to do us harm. Our federal officials cannot be expected to get it right 100 per cent of the time--that is not a reasonable expectation--but all of us need to pay attention to what is going on around us. We are responsible for our own safety.
Thank God for the alert street vendors (according to one story, they were Viet Nam veterans) who called the police.
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