Boston Marathon Bombing

Yesterday normal Americans gathered for the annual Boston Marathon celebrating patriots day. As the marathon was coming to a close, two bombs went off near the finish line- killing 3 and injuring 170 including 17 critical injuries. Some of the injuries endured were vicious- as the bombs were intended to maim individuals. Improvised explosive devices packed with nails, shrapnel, and small metal objects tore through the sidelines. Limbs were lost, worlds were shaken and America suffered it’s most recent tragedy.

President Obama took a lot of heat for not calling the tragedy a terrorist attack right away. He said we shouldn't jump to conclusions until we know the facts. Was this a terrorist attack? Were the engineers of this plot domestic, or did they come from abroad? What constitutes terrorism? Everyone has a lot of questions and yet, no one has any answers.

I find it interesting that this week holds the anniversaries of three prior american tragedies. The siege by the federal government of the cult church in Waco Texas came to a bloody end on April 19th 1993. The Columbine high school shooting on April 20th 1999. And finally, the Virginia Tech college shooting on April 16th 2007. The twisted souls who carried out Columbine used improvised explosive devices, but we do not call that attack terrorism.

By the close of the last decade, we were all comfortable labeling every crime under the umbrella term ‘terrorism’. Hell, even Daniel McGowan a member of the ‘Earth Liberation Front’ was labeled a terrorist and sent to terrorist prison for destruction of property while trying to save the Environment. No one was ever injured or killed during his quest to save wild horses from becoming glue or prevent priceless old growth forests from becoming paper mills.

The Boston marathon bombing may turn out to be an act of Terror-Ism. It may be the plot of angry domestic militias taking revenge for Waco and gun control. It may turn out to be Al Qaeda or some other terrorist group from the middle east. It may also turn out to be some pissed off teenager taking too many psych meds; but I agree with president Obama, we should wait for all the facts before we jump to conclusions.

Source: Mt Shasta News