Blast in Boston

A pair of powder bombs (IEDs), apparently wrapped in ball bearings, BBs and nails, detonated about 100 yards apart at mile 26 of the Boston Marathon on April 15^th, Patriot Day in Massachusetts. Metal sprayed out at 7,000 feet per second – faster than a bullet – killed three (including an 8-year-old little boy there to meet his dad at the finish line) and injured over 175, some very seriously. Limbs ripped off (the little boy’s sister lost her leg). Terrorism, pure and simple. Cowardice.

All who viewed the aftermath, except perhaps the bomber(s) and those who hate us, were sickened. Across the nation, around the world, tears welled in eyes contemplating the carnage. No suspects. No one is willing to speculate. A Timothy McVeigh domestic terrorist? A North Korean first strike? Al Qaeda? A lone killer? A group going after “the great Satan”? The simplicity of the device (a “low grade explosive” according to authorities) suggests less than an international threat, but no one knows for sure. Plenty of videos… pledges from President to state officials to get and prosecute the perpetrator(s).

The primitive-but-highly-effective device was rather small by some standards. Not a suicide bomber. Not sophisticated plastic explosives. And most certainly not anything close to a nuclear device. But for those in the immediate vicinity, life altering. Approximately three quarters of the roughly 23 thousand had already crossed the finish line by the time the explosions wreaked their devastation. Airports and major public venues around the world move to a heightened level of alert.

I began thinking what it was once like going up to the gate to meet a friend or relative arriving at the airport. No X-rays. No metal detectors or scanners. Can’t get near a gate unless you are an official or a passenger these days. I used to go to a major sporting event without metal detectors or hand searches. 9/11. Trillions of dollars later and with a new agency – the Department of Homeland Security – directed at the new terrorism threat, the United States joined countries around the world where political dissent is punctuated with bombs and guns with increasing frequency.

We’ve seen terror attacks in Tokyo, Madrid and London, and explosions are now an almost daily occurrence in Baghdad as disenfranchised Sunnis blast away at their Shiite governing majority. Israel faced the Intifada from 1987 to 1991 and bombings still occur in their major cities. Civil wars, particularly in Africa and the Middle East, claimed and continue to claim lives, inflict carnage, rape, torture, force enlistment (including children) and devastation. The global populations grows, although there are contractions in some nations (like Japan, Singapore and some European nations), some an enjoyed a rising standard of living while others struggle where they once prospered. Resources are stretched and global climate change threatens us on so many levels.

We can continue fighting with ourselves. We can remain a divided United States, with polarization slowly driving us farther apart. We can learn to hate each other, pass those messages down to succeeding generations. Americans can chip and hack at each other until the United States, facing challenges from every sector, simply falls apart. Or we can use the horrific events witnessed in Boston to find a reason to draw together, to rediscover the bonds that define our nation, seeking to find compromise and middle ground between extreme views simply to make us one great nation… once again. Look at how those at the bombing scene rushed to help each other. Look at the explosion of kindness. We owe it to the Boston victims, but more importantly, we owe it to ourselves to find a new path to walk together as one nation.

I’m Peter Dekom, and is there even the slightest silver lining to this very dark cloud?