By Cernig
Someone set of a tiny explosive device outside the Times Square Armed Forces Recruiting Station in New York in the early hours of this morning. Despite the fact that the bomb was more bang than blast, not even shredding the old army-surplus ammo box it appears to have come in, the NY Police described it as an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) - which while technically true evokes parallels with IED's in Iraq and this device bore the same relationship to those things as a Times Square pigeon has to a T-Rex.
Predictably, the wingnuts are pissing themselves with fear over the possibilities.
John Hindraker at Powerline headlines his post "ISLAMIC EXTREMISTS OR CODE PINKERS?" (Yes, all in caps. I'm just amazed there weren't twenty exclamation points too.)
A.J. Strata doesn't even stop to seriously consider the Islamists - he knows who the real enemy is. "Who Would Bomb Recruiters In NY City? Lunatic Liberals Of Course".
And Ed Morrisey proves his rationality has sailed into the sunset with his move from the Captain's Quarters into the boiler room at Hot Air.
Given the escalating protests over military recruitment, it seems inevitable that people would bomb those who seek to protect the nation and fight our enemies. I have to agree with John Cole - the logical gap in that sentence, that anti-war protests must inevitably turn to violence, is a veritable yawning chasm. Mind the step.
At least Confederate Yankee, who has his own impromptu analysis which shows just how much of a squib the bomb was, mentions the only evidence of any connection whatsoever to anyone at all and says clearly that he thinks it's unlikely any anti-war group was responsible. That evidence is the only evidence anyone has right now.
Law enforcement officials are looking into whether the suspect is the same man who threw explosive devices at the British and Mexican Consulates in the early morning hours in the past couple of years.
In October, witnesses told police they saw a man on a bicycle throwing a small black powdered device at the Mexican Consulate in Midtown. In May, 2005, a similar incident also occurred at the British Consulate building. No one was hurt in either of those two incidents.
Law enforcement officials said a preliminary review shows Thursday's explosion was caused by a can filled with some sort of explosive powder.
"In 2005, 2007, dummy hand grenades were used and the explosive, black powder, was put into those grenades and that caused the explosion," Kelly said. "Here, it may be similar powder -- we still have to determine that. But it was placed in an ammunition box. That was the carrier for the explosive. There was no grenade." Mexico isn't even involved in Iraq or Afghanistan. James Joyner feels the evidence just points to "a thrillseeker with no real political agenda."
Lets see now - the evidence tying this to a lone wacko on a bike is circumstantial ("the size of the blast, the time of day, and a bicycle"), but the evidence tying it to an anti-war movement or Islamist group is...um...nil.
Must be Code Pink or AQI then.
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