A Free Country is a Vulnerable One by Definition - But to Ignore this Fact Magnifies it Effect

The following is a video of a person planting the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) that detonated at a US Military recruiting center in Times Square today. It is worth noting that the type of device used is the very explosive which has reeked havoc and accounted for more US troop deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan than any other. According to iCasualties, the total number of American troops killed by IEDs in Iraq alone, last updated on February 8th of this year, is 1720. Compare this with 3,974 total US solider fatalities. Was someone trying to make a point?

It's hard not to speculate.

He or she planted this explosive knowing full well that even Times Square, one of the busiest places in the world during the day, is down to a dull roar by 3 AM. Perhaps this is one of those acts done in order to raise consciousness and stimulate conversation and government action to actually address the rampant vulnerabilities of American cities. Whoever he or she was, they selected a perfectly susceptible and symbolic area.

If this was why the IED was planted, such an action though obviously a heinous way to make a point, because people could have been killed by accident, possesses validity in point of fact. That is to say, the money spent "taking the War to the terrorists" dwarfs that which is spend for planning, security, policing, and disaster recovery preparedness. If this is not brimming with perilous fecklessness I don't know what is.

It really makes me wonder that between the gross misallocation of US resources to the provocative and ill-conceived wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the fatalistic myopia afflicting the unconstitutionally powerful Bush Administration - what are we waiting for.

Didn't we shout "never again?"