And Then A Bomb Goes Off…         9/19/16   Jos. R. Walsh

Many ‘Average Citizens’, Those just going about their business without paying too much attention to anything, except whatever it is, that their ‘business’ is, don’t give much thought to Terrorism, or the work of Counter-Terrorism…
And then a bomb goes off. Not at City Hall or the new World Trade Center, but at West 23rd Street & 6th Avenue. West 23rd & 6th, What the hell…? Later, another Improvised Explosive Device is discovered by a now alert Citizen, at West 25th & 7th.
Many New Yorkers will think to themselves: IED, we’ve heard of such things exploding in Baghdad, Beirut, even Brussels, and Paris…Not on West 23rd Street. Not until Saturday Night, 8:30 PM, September 17th, 2016. Why West23rd Street? Because it’s there. 
A Terrorist Psychopath by the Name of Boubaker al-Hakim, Notoriously described as the godfather of French jihadists, advised his followers to abandon symbolism: “My advice is to stop looking for specific targets. Hit everyone and everything.” Such advice was apparently adopted by another Terrorist Psychopath Named Ahmad Rahami, a 28-year-old Afghan-born, U.S. Citizen.
Rahami seems to have decided, Not the Symbolism of City Hall, or Grand Central Station, but West 23rd. Street. And West 25th. Sure, and why not?
It’s a cool and comfortable Saturday Night in the Gramercy Park Neighborhood of New York City. It’s an attractive place with plenty of fine restaurants and shops. Not too far from the City’s World-famous Theatre District. There are hundreds of people out and about. Sure, West 23rd Street will do just fine.
Being none-too-bright, this Mental Case went through all the trouble of building and transporting a Bomb, and then placed it Inside one of New York’s Green Metal Dumpsters. Thank God. These rugged metal containers are designed and built to withstand a beating. Early every morning, these containers are picked-up and smashed against even more rugged, forklift-equipped trucks, and are rocked and banged about until empty. I don’t know how many people have seen these things but trust me, if an IED exploded on the street, you would very much want to be Inside one of these dumpsters. They’re built like little armored cars. 
Thankfully, mostly due to the rugged steel construction of these containers, no one was killed in the West 23rd St. explosion, though 29 were injured, some seriously, and Hundreds more New Yorkers and Visitors were indeed, Terrorized. All of the injured had been released from area hospitals by the following day. 
New York City is one of the most Closed-Circuit TV Monitored places on the planet. Rest assured that just about everywhere one goes in Manhattan, Cameras are watching. A lot of them are privately-owned Anti-Crime Cameras installed by businesses for Security. And many of them are NYPD Counter-Terror Cameras. When the ‘footage’ from these 2 sources is combined, nearly every foot of every NYC block is recorded. Personally, I find the constant surveillance engagingly annoying, but once again, Thank God it’s there. Because it served to quickly identify the Lunatic Bomber Rahami. 
Video footage shows the Terrorist Rahami behaving suspiciously at both Gramercy Park, Manhattan Bomb Sites. Apparently, at West 25th Street & 7th, the Psychopath Rahami opted to leave his pressure-cooker, bomb, somewhat like the ones used at the Boston Marathon Bombings, but much less powerful, in a suitcase on the corner. When a suitcase is abandoned on a street corner in Manhattan, one of two things will happen. Either someone will take and/or open the unattended luggage, or an alert ‘See-something, Say-something New Yorker’ will alert the Police. In this case, all three options occurred.
Some enterprising passer-by noticed the suitcase and got busy. According to various Counter-Terror Sources, the pedestrian picked-up the suitcase, walked a couple of Yards, and opened the case. He found inside some sort of pressure-cooker device with wires protruding and a cell phone taped to the cooker. 
This so far, unidentified entrepreneur, carefully removed the device, set it down on the sidewalk, and walked off with the suitcase. As the old adage goes: Only in New York.
Shortly thereafter, a Neighborhood resident out for an evening stroll noticed the contraption on the sidewalk, astutely decided it to be suspicious, and called the Police. 3 Blocks away at 23rd & 6th, a hundred Counter-Terror Officers of various Agencies, were amassed in response to the Bombing there. Police Assistance to the 911 call from 25th Street was swift and efficient. It was quickly determined by Counter-Terror Officers and Agents that the abandoned pressure-cooker was in fact, another IED. On 25th Street, in Manhattan, on an otherwise lovely Saturday evening. Not The World Trade Center, or The World Financial Center just across the street, but a ‘Soft-Target’: 7th Ave & 25th Street.
The Lunatic Rahami, resides apparently in Elizabeth, NJ. New Jersey too shared in the latest Terror-Attacks in our area. An IED exploded in Seaside, NJ, along the planned route for a Benefit Race for The U.S.M.C. and other Counter-Terror Operators. Thankfully, and Blessedly, the race was running 30 Minutes behind schedule, and no one was injured in that explosion. But the significance and timing is not lost. The point was made: the Bomb was intended to explode as the race went by. 
And in Elizabeth, NJ the hometown of the Mad-Man Rahami, another IED Package was discovered. 3 Pipe Bombs in a Backpack were discovered in a Trash Can nearby the Elizabeth Train Station by a couple of Late-Evening strollers returning home from a local tavern. The curious duo thought perhaps they’d gotten lucky and found something of value in the trash. Lucky indeed, for the rest of us. The pair quickly made their way to the nearby Elizabeth Police Station and reported their discovery.
New Jersey Bomb Squad Operators detonated the device robotically while disarming the IED. Again, Thankfully, no one was injured in that explosion. 
 Metropolitan Terrorist Attacks have moved into a new and alarming phase; ‘Soft-Targets’. We’ve been advised for Months now by Counter-Terror Experts that this is, in fact, the New and Current Method of Operation of Terrorist Operators. (Yawn). They’re always there – TV, Internet, Newspapers, rambling on about such developments. Because nothing happened in our Neighborhood, or where we work and travel, many of us gave some attention to this Noise, and went about our lives without too much worry or concern in such matters. And then a Bomb went off… on West 23rd Street. Things changed.
Many of the people in the vicinity of the 23rd Street Bombing, and the discovery of another IED on West 25th, were people who Lived and/or Worked, or Traveled the City on 9/11/01. And Now, it’s Back. And it’s Close. And it’s once again; Alarming.
Very quickly, 24 hours after the multiple bombings and IED discoveries FBI Counter-Terror Agents, and the NYPD intercepted and stopped a car that’d come to be a Subject of the Investigation, on the Brooklyn Side of the Verrazano Bridge. The Subject Vehicle had New Jersey Plates and was stopped after crossing over from Staten Island into Brooklyn. It is reported that 5 ‘Persons of Interest’, said to be relatives of the Bomber Rahami, and residents of the same home in Elizabeth, were taken-in for questioning. Subsequently, the home in Elizabeth was searched by various Counter-Terror Officers. The results of that search have not yet been revealed.
We shall Carry-On. Undoubtedly a bit more cautious and maybe somewhat sacred. But like all people terrorized by war, the Citizens who survived and continued during the London Blitzkrieg in WW II. The Citizens of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, who face frequent attack and constant threat. The poor refugees of Aleppo, and terrorized population of Baghdad and Mosul. We too shall carry on.  A bit shocked and alarmed, but more vigilant and careful, we shall carry on as best we can, shaken, but not bowed nor cowed, we will carry on. Even when the Next Bomb Explodes, we shall carry on.
And Hopefully, more attentive, and supportive of the Counter-Terror Operators in our midst. God Bless All Those Who Serve in Harm’s Way, on our behalf.