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Overnight Bombing at NYC Recruiting Center

pO157.

Posted to Scoop on Thu Mar 06, 2008 at 12:56:22 PM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.

An explosion rocked famous Times Square at 3:45am this Thursday morning. After the dust and smoke cleared it became clear the target was the military recruiting center located in the glitzy crossroads.

Thankfully nobody was hurt in the attack. Due to the late hour the building was locked and the offices were unoccupied. Authorities described the explosive as unsophisticated and composed of "low order explosive" packed inside a military style ammunition box. The attack occurred next to a police substation, and so an officer and nearby witness recalled seeing a hooded person on a bicycle with a backpack stop in the area just before the explosion.

During the War on Terror, numerous protests against Military Recruiting Stations have been staged (although in some cases controversial) thus far. However, at these protests no group has resorted to violence against recruiters or the military. Because no group has claimed responsibility it is unclear if the current wars have anything to do with the event. Even so, NYC Mayor Bloomberg swiftly denounced the events at a press conference. He stated the act

insults every one of our brave men and women in uniform stationed around the world. Whoever the coward was that committed this disgraceful act on our city will be found and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. We will not tolerate such attacks.
The officer in charge of recruiting in Manhattan and the center, which accepts volunteers for all branches of service, did not blame protest groups immediately, but said the attack will not be taken lightly. "If it is something that's directed toward American troops then it's something that's taken very seriously and is pretty unfortunate."

Damage to the recruiting center was described as minor and mainly consisted of a destroyed front door and smoke damage.

Tags: edited by Port1080, written by pO157, NY, NYC, Unique New York, New York City, terorrism, bombing, war, army, recruiting, marines, marine, navy, Michael Bloomberg (all tags)

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2

Did Osama Release The Videotape?

MayorBob.

Thu Mar 06, 2008 at 02:00:20 PM EST

4.75 (funny, funny, funny)

"Today my brothers in Islam, a lightning strike has landed in the heart of the Great Satan.  Our brothers in the Revolutionary Holy Jihad Chapter of al-Qaeda in the Big Apple have delivered Allah's righteous verdict against the forces of all oppression in all the world.  Unfortunately, we couldn't find a jihadi who wished to spend eternity in the company of 72 virgins and we are running a little short in our budget for military-grade high explosives.  So we had to go with ten cherry bombs in Spiderman lunch box.  May merciful Allah give long lives and several goats to the righteous."

 

Illegitimi non carborundum.

3

random thoughts on the police state

wetkarma.

Thu Mar 06, 2008 at 04:26:58 PM EST

3.00 (interesting, interesting)

  1. For an explosion which "destroyed" a door -- the glass (one of those doors with standard shatter glass with a wood frame) is very much intact. Furthermore, having been to time square and being very familiar with that recruitment office, I can attest the office itself is a relatively small structure.

  2. CNN raises the possibility that this is part of a trend of recent bicycle bomber attacks which due to small size/limited damage have gone ignored in major media.

Mayorbob's wit aside, this strikes me as home grown ELF-style action. A proper terrorist would have at least packed the described ammo box with nails/marbles to create shrapnel. What I find interesting is that if this were to have happened in London (say Picadilly Circus), the person involved would have had to have a MUCH better getaway plan than 'ride away on a bicycle wearing a hoodie'. Virtually every street in london has cctv coverage and I'm a bit surprised that authorities have not been able to reconstruct this persons trail (at least they haven't announced it) from the immense private business camera feed in Time Sq.

I mean seriously -- if the government can't track someone as they traverse Time Sq/midtown Manhattan then those police state fears we see lobbed about are far overblown.

Memory is a strange bell, jubilee and knell.

4

^ 3

Stressed Out Military Recruiter Leads At 2:1 Odds

thefadd.

Thu Mar 06, 2008 at 06:10:40 PM EST

4.00 (interesting)

this strikes me as home grown ELF-style action.

I'd put the odds much closer to it being someone of the military persuasion. The lack of effort put into the bomb has the makings of someone who wasn't at all serious about this...just the type of person who is simply crying out through self-loathing victim mentality.

I'd give 3 or 4:1 odds in traditional leftist and 6, 7 or possibly even 8:1 odds on an islamist.

It is easy to buy small plaster models of what you think life is like.

5

^ 4

Re: Stressed Out Military Recruiter Leads At 2:1 O

gerrymander.

Fri Mar 07, 2008 at 01:16:29 AM EST

2.00 (funny, funny, funny)

I'd give 3 or 4:1 odds in traditional leftist

I should have taken those odds:

Capitol Hill offices received letters Thursday containing a photo of the Times Square military recruiting office before it was bombed and including the claim "We Did It."

The manila envelopes contained a photo of a man standing in front of the recruiting station before it was bombed. The photo was the kind commonly sent as a holiday greeting card, according to a Democratic aide who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is under investigation.The message on the card: "Happy New Year, We Did It."

The envelope also contained a packet of approximately 10 sheets of paper that seemed to be a political manifesto railing against the Iraq war and a booklet. The aide didn't know what the booklet was. A second aide, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said similar letters arrived in as many as 10 offices.

I guess the peace movement finally learned to stop worrying and love the bomb.

6

^ 5

Proves Nothing

thefadd.

Fri Mar 07, 2008 at 12:13:17 PM EST

5.00 (astute)

I can't think of anyone more driven to exasperation of the Iraq War than a military recruiter.

It is easy to buy small plaster models of what you think life is like.

1

Re: Overnight Bombing at NYC Recruiting Center

thefadd.

Thu Mar 06, 2008 at 01:51:22 PM EST

none

Did the explosion actually "rock" Times Square? From what I heard, it was pretty small. This seems rather insignificant and wouldn't be a big deal at all if it hadn't happened in NYC.

It is easy to buy small plaster models of what you think life is like.

7

^ 1

Re: Overnight Bombing at NYC Recruiting Center

pO157.

Fri Mar 07, 2008 at 12:36:49 PM EST

none

Well, it was supposedly felt four blocks away. But then again the area was probably relatively quiet due to it being close to 4am. I bet if this happened in the middle of the day or rush hour nobody would have noticed it unless they were within a few hundred yards.

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