An anonymous poster commented on blog post Terror plot in Portland? expressing dismay at Portland's brush with "terrorism" last Friday. The comment closed with these words:
For some reason when things like this happen I don't ever feel afraid only very very sad.Brother or sister, whoever you are, you are not alone. That's exactly the way I feel. Thank you for articulating it.
What a tragic waste of a life!
I don't understand how this kid, Mohamed Osman Mohamud, might have believed that detonating a car bomb in Portland, Oregon was the right thing to do.
It's true that most young men are ardent. I certainly was, at his age. And sometimes they act rashly in order to make themselves heard in an indifferent world. But this thing he did, or tried to do, anyway... I don't get it.
Now, his family and his Somali Muslim community will suffer because of his actions. Now, his life is marred forever.
The trial to come will reveal much, I'm sure. Prime among the many questions for which I hope to learn answers is one that I would ask of the Justice Department: Was there truly no other way?