IT seems to me likely that this was not al-Qa'ida or a lone madman . . . but more likely, much more likely, the NRA . . . No responsibility will be claimed by any group, and there will be no second attack; and no culprit ever found. This is my prediction.
Andrew O'Keefe, host of Channel 7's Deal or No Deal (and secret terror expert) tweets on Friday:
"THE common link is not Islam, it is young men."
Taking up the theme. Sydney's The Sun-Herald editorialises, Sunday:
DESPITE the cacophony of speculation and political point-scoring, nobody yet knows what drove Tamerlan Tsarnaev, a 26-year-old US citizen of Chechen descent, and his brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, to commit the atrocities of which they stand accused . . . By typecasting and marginalising cultures in the hunt for scapegoats, we risk exacerbating the very alienation that provides fertile ground for radicalisation. It should be noted that information that emerged in the hours after Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in a police shootout early on Friday didn't fit into any neat profile, aside from the fact that the suspects were young adult males.
Well, this can't be the explanation. ABC Radio National's Jonathan Green tweets April 15:
TIM Blair (wrote on his blog): "Multiple bombs are the usual strategy in Islamist terrorist attacks."
Matt J tweets yesterday:
LOOKS like Tim Blair was right. So does that mean we can discuss Islam . . . again, or should we just ignore and hope it goes away?
Green tweets yesterday:
TO the extent that it prompted these actions of course but we know nothing of that as yet. the talk is empty.
Robert Elliott tweets yesterday:
LOOKS like Alan Jones and Tim Blair know far more about Islamic terrorism than you and Waleed Aly.
Green tweets yesterday:
YEAH they stand as beacons of knowing restraint for mine. (sic)
Elliott tweets yesterday:
THE problem with the ABC/Left echo chamber is that it excludes reality and conflicting views. Be more curious Jonathan.
Green tweets yesterday:
BLAIR was islamophobing as usual. we have only circumstantial evidence. none of us have a clue why this happened.
Elliott tweets yesterday:
YOU seriously believe that Islamism is not a clue to why this happened? Do Buddhist, Hindu or Christian students do this?
Green tweets yesterday:
I HAVE no idea why they did this. neither do you. and yes. obviously. read the papers
What a mature way to handle terror. Waleed Aly, The Sydney Morning Herald, last Friday:
WE'RE finally maturing in the way we handle terrorism. Gone is the triumphalist rhetoric of the "War on Terror", with its ridiculous promises of a terrorism-free world and the ultimate victory of freedom over tyranny. In its place is a far more sober, pragmatic recognition that terrorism is a perpetual irritant, and that while it is tragic and emotionally lacerating, it kills relatively few people and is not any kind of existential threat.
Mature talk. Tim Blair, The Daily Telegraph, yesterday:
SOME of us might hope for maturity from terrorists, who prefer bloodthirsty and irrational attacks on innocent targets over any kind of adult reasoning, but that's not going to happen anytime soon . . . Three people were killed in Boston due to irritants. Another 14 will endure the perpetual irritation of losing one or more limbs. By last Friday, 57 remained in hospital suffering varying degrees of emotional laceration to their faces and bodies. Hey, this new mature talk is fun.