Three Thoughts On the London Bombings

1. I am baffled by the confusion of both law enforcement and the media regarding the timing of the explosions. Surely, the objective evidence of video surveillance cameras, Underground transport clocks and eyewitness accounts should have been reconciled within one hour of the blasts, showing a near-simultaneous detonation. An error of 26 minutes is a vast error and I remain mystified that it took nearly two days to correct it.

2. The effect of the bombings on the public psyche has been dramatically lessened for two reasons:

First, the attacks were not "new" or "innovative." In contrast to the attacks on
9?11 they were almost mundane, as in: "Oh, dear, not another bombing! How sad for the Brits."

Second, the three Tube bombings were deep underground, providing neither
spectacular photographs of the explosions themselves (as with the jetliner
impacts at the WTC) nor follow-up photos of the damage and carnage (as with the
train bombings in Spain). Out of sight=Out of mind."

This is a welcome miscalculation on the part of the terrorists (thus far, the bus has been the only visual icon of the attacks).

3. The London attacks should remind us all how even small, simple explosive devices, when used with strategic precision, can paralyze a city of millions. Had there been any chemical or radioactive component to the bombs the casualty figures would have been in the thousands and the London Underground system significantly shut down for months, if not years.

Security concerns raised by the incident serve only to reveal the contents of the American "Patriot Act" to be tame and almost innocuous in the face of the threat that we face in a free and open society.

I suggest that vocal and strident opposition to even the more "controversial" aspects of the Patriot Act by members of Congress will, at this point in time, be political suicide...especially for those who might have an interest in pursuing national office.