My daughter Katie lives in the Boston area so of course Diane and I were completely involved in the coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing from the beginning. Fortunately, Katie was working in Newton, Massachusetts when the bombs went off. Katie found about about the tragedy when Patrick sent her a text that said, “Are you okay?” Katie texted back, “Why wouldn’t I be?” That’s when Patrick sent video of the explosions to Katie’s iPhone. Then came the release of the photos of the suspects by the FBI. Then came the 7-11 robbery, the shooting of the M.I.T. security officer, the car-jacking of the Mercedes SUV, the fire-fight in Watertown, the death of Suspect #1, and the manhunt for Suspect #2. Ironically, Katie had planned a trip home this weekend. And she made it home! Diane and I gave her an extra-big Welcome Home hug! Our hearts go out to the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing and their families.
I’m glad Kate is okay, George. I know how scary it can be to have a loved one in the area of a tragedy and not knowing they are safe.
I’m glad, too, that they caught the guy and that we may be able to get some answers. I saw a message online that said “Boston is the only major city that if you f— with them, they will close the city down…stop everything…and find you.
Jerry, the disturbing fact about this whole week is that two guys could terrorize a whole city and it took thousands of law enforcement officers to catch them. I have the sinking feeling we’re going to see more of these incidents.
Funny how we all have ties to Boston-relatives, vacation there, went to school there.
What a horrible week.
You’re right, Patti. It was a nerve-wracking week. Now, I’m hoping we get some answers about the suspects and their motivation.
Glad she made it home OK. When they opened the streets to traffic and started running the ‘T’ I figured that she might get out. The whole thing was incredible. When it happened we’d just taken my father to the ENT doctor and I was able to watch the bombing story on my smartphone. My father was so impressed with the phone he now wants to get one himself.
Jeff, we all slept easier last night knowing that Suspect #2 was captured and Katie arrived safely home. Eventually we’ll all need smartphones. Hope your father is doing okay.
I think you’re right. These guys proved what we’ve said for years about the subways: if you just take a backpack and act like you belong, you can set off a bomb and cause a lot of chaos. You can catch the guy afterwards but there is no way you can stop all of them.
What was shocking was how young the suspects were. I kept thinking about the survivor who is younger than my oldest child. I’m glad your daughter was not affected by events and you got to give her extra hugs! My husband was on a plane on 9-11and incommunicado for four hours–and they were the longest four hours of my life!
Deb, I can’t imagine what you went through on 9-11! Yes, there was a huge sense of relief when Katie landed safely last night. Katie, like all of the Boston area residents, felt the stress of having two suspected bombers on the loose all week long. This morning, Katie said she slept “really, really well.” So did her parents!
Jeff, law enforcement can only do so much. The probability of stopping every terrorist is zero.
I vote for shining a bright light in his eyes and whipping him with a hose until he tells why on earth they could have thought doing this made sense. Then they could kinda accidentally drop him into a vat of boiling acid or something and thus save the taxpayers millions in litigation costs. In this particular case, I vote for justice over due process. Too extreme? No, you see THEY were the ones who were too extreme…
I’m with Deb, Rick. SUSPECT #2 is only 19. Clearly, he was controlled by his older brother. That doesn’t excuse the heinous acts the two brothers committed, but it does lead to wanting more information on the motivation, training, and possible accomplices.
I agree with you both, George, but gee, look what he did!
Rick, I’m hoping we can find out what motivated the terrorist suspects so we can head off further pressure-cooker bombs.
I am glad to hear that your daughter is safe Dr. Kelley! I think that the Onion accurately described the post-capture feelings in the US with the headline, “Nation Breathes Sigh Of Continuing Unease.” Too many tragedies recently; let’s hope that there are better days ahead!
Lauren, thanks for your concern! But, let’s keep this horrible bombing in perspective: it’s been 12 years since 9-11. But this incident signals that we may be facing more low-tech, low-cost bombings.
George, I’m glad your daughter is safe and things are returning to normal in Boston now that the second suspect has been nabbed. South Asians, especially Indians and Pakistanis, are relieved the two men were not from our region for fear of reprisals and racist attacks, though the US authorities wrongly mentioned an Indian by name. Regarding your reply to my comment in your previous post, the Boston attack had parallels with the series of explosions in the first-class coaches of nearly a dozen suburban trains in Mumbai one evening about seven years ago. The bombs, I think, were hidden in pressure cookers and placed on the baggage racks. The terrorist attacks on a major railway station, two 5-star hotels, a popular restaurant, and a Jewish house four years ago was unlike anything we’d seen until then. Four of the 10 terrorists were killed inside the two hotels after a 48-hour standoff with elite commandos. The affected areas were closed to vehicular and pedestrian movement while the rest of the city went about its daily business. The attack sites are located about a kilometre from my office and we could see smoke rising from the hotels. Nearly 200 people including foreigners died and hundreds were wounded on that terrible day. What amazes one during such calamitous times is how complete strangers come to the aid of the victims. We saw that happen in Boston.
Prashant, thanks for the excellent post! I thought you might detect the parallels between the Mumbai and the Boston bombings. Low-tech, low-cost but deadly bombs calculated to cause maximum casualties on innocent victims. The U.S. has 30 million surveillance cameras, but they can’t stop determined terrorists. Free and open societies are threatened.
However, in the past year we have had multiple mass shootings, and in the past week we have had of course the bombing (and subsequent lock down of Boson), poisonous letters sent to government officials, and an explosion in Texas. Plus, as you said, we do not know if small scale terrorist attacks (which are common place in other parts of the world) will continue to occur in the US. The picture becomes even bleaker once considering all of the tragedies occurring at a global level, including the bombing your friend Prashant witnessed. After a while, you just start to feel as though we are unable to escape from tragic news. So, my point was simply that although it was relieving to find out that the suspects were off of the streets, all of the sadness and/or uncertainty surrounding recent events leaves one still with an unsettled feeling.
By the way, I thought that you would enjoy the following article from the Onion:
Study: Majority Of Americans Not Informed Enough To Stereotype Chechens
WASHINGTON—Following FBI reports this morning that the suspects implicated in Monday’s Boston Marathon bombing are of Chechen descent, efforts to thoughtlessly stereotype the alleged terrorists were impeded by the majority of Americans’ lack of basic knowledge about Chechnya or the Chechen people, a new study has confirmed. “Our research shows that, while many Americans would like nothing more than to make sweeping, insensitive generalizations about these two individuals based purely on their ethnic identity, this process is largely impeded by the fact that 9 out of 10 Americans truly know next to nothing about Chechnya, including even the very barest details of what or where Chechnya is,” said lead researcher Dr. Tim Kinane, adding that a majority of American citizens are almost totally unaware of Chechen history and culture, how to locate Chechnya on a map, whether Chechnya is a country or a city or a region, or that a person from Chechnya is called a Chechen. “Clinical trials show that most individuals will make brief, fumbling attempts to stereotype Chechens based on what little they know about Russians, but eventually drop the subject entirely after running out of anything to say within seconds.” Kinane’s team was able to confirm, however, that once research subjects were told Chechnya is a predominantly Muslim region, they were “usually pretty good to go from there.”
Lauren, I like THE ONION, too! I’ll be reviewing their latest book next week. Part of our problems, exposed by the Boston Marathon bombings, is the lack of progress on immigration reform and gun control.
So glad she was okay!!! As I’m sure were you both. What a relief in such an awful time.
On an unrelated note, excited about the new blog look but am still wishing you would turn on the ability to subscribe to comments and replies and posts. 🙂
Carl, when Patrick and I finish tweaking this blog in a month or two, we certainly will have that subscribe to comments, replies, and posts feature! But, right now, both Patrick and I are in the END OF SEMESTER work mode.
Happy to hear it!