Two explosions near the finish line of the famed Boston Marathon seem to indicate that terrorism attacks continue, with large, high-profile events in the U.S. the favoured targets.
It is almost certain that these attacks were well-planned, and this was no accident. Anyone who pays attention to American culture knows that the Boston Marathon is among the most prestigious races of its type, and attracts major media attention.
This is tailor-made for terrorists, who crave publicity. Their purpose is to scare large numbers of people, bring attention to themselves and show the United States and other major countries that, no matter how hard they try, they can’t completely stop these types of attacks.
Terrorists seek, more than anything else, to disrupt the way of life most people in North America and Europe enjoy. They want to disrupt democracy and bring chaos, confusion and death to others — often claiming they are simply paying back western countries for past misdeeds.
The Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, of course, were the worst terrorist attacks in living memory — but there have been others, in Bali, London and Mumbai. The culprits are a varied lot. While many attacks have been attributed to Al-Qaeda, the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 was the work of a group of Americans angry at its own government.
Canada, while it has escaped terrorist attacks, has had a number of near-misses. Several years ago, a group of young people were arrested outside Toronto, and they had plans to set off explosions. Just recently, two of the extremists who attacked an Algerian gas plant in January were from London, Ont.
Terrorism is a sad fact of life in our modern age.
— Langley Times
