Times Square Car Bomb: Could Los Angeles Be Next?
[Guest post by Jack Dunphy]
An editorial in today’s Wall Street Journal (subscription required) calls for more aggressive tactics in interdicting terrorists plots, the most recent of which came up short of its lethal aims when the Times Square car bomb failed to explode:
After a succession of recent terrorist incidents inside the U.S., often involving so-called home-grown jihadists, it is evident that we should be willing to err on the side of being aggressive in surveilling and catching such people before their bombs begin to smolder. It is not possible to catch all of them. It should be possible to ensure that the odds of protecting the American public are as strong as we are able to make them. Lady Luck is a nice colleague, but she won’t protect us from all the terrorism coming our way.
It is reasonable to assume that some sites in Los Angeles are every bit as tempting to terrorists as Times Square, which would seem to call for added vigilance on the part of the Los Angeles Police Department. Incredibly, the very unit within the LAPD responsible for such vigilance was quietly disbanded not long ago, with its personnel reassigned to more mundane duties.
Given this close brush with disaster in New York, perhaps some in the LAPD are having second thoughts about where those officers would be best utilized.
–Jack Dunphy
This is troubling…the anti-terrorism unit was disbanded? It’s incredible that after 9-11, and all the near-misses since then that we can still be so unserious about security, even in NY. Back in December, a van without license plates sat at the curb in Times Sq. accumulating parking tickets for days. Finally, the cops checked it, found it just contained old clothes, and towed it away. Was that dry-run of this past weekend? Why didn’t any of the traffic agents have the presence of mind to report it? In this latest case, a sidewalk vendor had more sense. That said, I also have absolutely no faith in the federal administration, esp. Ms. Napolitano who said the “system worked” after the underwear bomber was foiled last December (unless the “system” involves having the other passengers on the plane jump the terrorist). Likewise, in this most recent case, she and Chuckie Schumer were quick to characterize the truck bomber as a “lone-wolf” or “one-off.” In truth, they had no idea…at the time they made their statements it wasn’t even known who owned the truck. Gd save us all from these idiots.
sam (5ef311) — 5/3/2010 @ 9:39 amwell, we don’t know if it is related to the south park thing, but it just highlights how important it is to stand up to terrorism. If you would like to participate in the Everyone Draw Mohammed Protest, go here: http://everyonedrawmohammed.blogspot.com/
A.W. (e7d72e) — 5/3/2010 @ 9:45 amwith the inevitable cat calls (from all sides) about deterioration of rights …
The news media calls for tougher tactics and then denounces them when they are implemented. *sigh*
quasimodo (4af144) — 5/3/2010 @ 10:20 amLA City Council will continue to starve the LAPD financially until Mayor MeCHa and a few council critters are hurt by a IED from a terror cell.
PCD (b3210f) — 5/3/2010 @ 10:27 amIt is notable that it was a vender who raised the alarm not any official. After all the billions that have spent in new york on security it was plan b or c that thrarted the act.Echoes of the detroit flight. the system worked?
clyde (6d7718) — 5/3/2010 @ 10:58 amOnce the Islamic terrorists here get the bugs worked out of their prototype SUV bomb and disseminate the materials list and do-it-yourself instructions, what’s to stop them exploding in our faces on street corners, ferry boats, traffic tunnels, elementary schools, and who knows where else?
ropelight (334377) — 5/3/2010 @ 11:21 amI am just waiting for an Al Qaeda mailbox bomber to strike the Midwest. The last fool was and insane lefty. That is all that stopped people from being killed here.
PCD (1d8b6d) — 5/3/2010 @ 11:31 amPCD
I love watching the media say it was too stupid for al Qaeda. They don’t get it. Take the exampele of 9-11. They had actually tried it before, in france. They hijacked a plane on the ground and demanded fuel. they planned to fly the plane into the eiffel tower. they had no pilots.
Now stop and think about that… then how did they plan to force the pilots to crash the plane into the eiffel tower? “Comitts suicide or else I will kill you.”
And then being on the ground allowed the plane to be stormed by the frence commandos. that is right, they are so dumb they got beaten by the french.
and then richard reed was defeated by foot sweat. the undiebomber made an idiot of himself. Let’s face it, they are not exactly bright bulbs. thier gift is they are determined. they learn from their mistakes and become more and more dangerous on repetition.
A.W. (e7d72e) — 5/3/2010 @ 11:47 amSeems like a pretty good field expedient plan.
Richard Aubrey (a9ba34) — 5/3/2010 @ 12:07 pmIf the ammonium nitrate wasn’t up to bomb standards, he had two more items going for him.
It might have depended on whether he left the windows open.
However, once the gasoline got going, the windows would pop and you’d get your venting. Then the fire would cause the propane tanks to blow. You either get a huge fireball, or an explosion.
Not to sneer at.
AW, you’re right that this is hardly incompatible with Al Qaida. It’s actually similar enough to the failure in 1993. Can’t rule out domestics, either, but Times Square and civilians? I just don’t see that being target #1 for those nuts.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 5/3/2010 @ 12:46 pmEach time they fail they get more intel and operational expertise so that their next attempt will be successful – and more lethal.
I am just waiting for an Al Qaeda mailbox bomber to strike the Midwest.
I’m not worried about my hometown, because our mayor has made even more gun control his first priority from now on.
Dmac (21311c) — 5/3/2010 @ 1:29 pmJack, I have been watching this unfold from a very unique chair, and I can tell you that the unit who’s job it was to respond to actionable intelligence and targeted assets within the City Of Los Angeles, has indeed been disband. Our job was to Identify/Detect, Interdict and Mitigate homicide bombers, people conducting pre-operational surveillance for a Mumbia style attack or plotting to place a device like the one in Times Square. There are quite a few attacks on LA that have been thwarted by hard working professional, but there are those in the LAPD upper ranks that are far to ignorant and under qualified to do what is needed, and make the tough decisions. I do think that Chief Beck wants to do the right thing, but the people that have been advising him are advising him incorrectly. They will benefit by his failure. But that means that people will die, due to their incompetence. I think the Police Commission needs to step in and advise the department to do the right thing. The training and gear has already been paid for and it will be of zero additional cost to the city. They demonstratively believe that they know more than they do, and due too their names being on the Captains (Horace Frank), Deputy Chief (Downing) and Assistant Chief (Moore) doors, that they are above taking advice. They must remember that they are here to protect and to serve, and are municipal Law Enforcement Officers. The might be big fish in the City of Los Angeles, but when we get attacked and these men are called up to a Congressional hearing, and all the emails and phone records and other tangible evidence of their dereliction of duty are on display, they will be lucky to get hired off of Monster.com. I fear that the people of LA and the Country in general will have already suffered a great loss in blood.
Former LAPD (ATD) Counter Terrorism Officer (104094) — 5/3/2010 @ 1:49 pmI hope Chief Beck buys a vowel and solves the equation before we are hit. But I am not holding my breath, due to the incompetence advising him.
I just pray the body count is low.
I forgot to say that if these terrorists were operational and past the surveillance portion of their plan, we were loaded for bear, and ready to mitigate the attack on the spot. Even if that meant giving our lives to do so. Most are setting up a perimeter for a bomb, we were ready, willing and prepared to put hands or guns on and stop the threat.
Former LAPD (ATD) Counter Terrorism Officer (104094) — 5/3/2010 @ 1:54 pmOur Citizens deserve better than they’re getting!
Setting a bomb in L.A. would be a waste of a good bomb. Given a few more monthe the Socialist Democrats will destroy it from within.
Scrapiron (996c34) — 5/3/2010 @ 3:26 pm“Once the Islamic terrorists here get the bugs worked out of their prototype SUV bomb and disseminate the materials list and do-it-yourself instructions”. Already taken care of by police officers, x-police officers and O’Dumbo’s mouthpieces. Everyone now knows how to build a functioning bomb.
Scrapiron (996c34) — 5/3/2010 @ 3:29 pmEveryone with the obvious exception of the naturalized American citizen recently returned from several months in Pakistan caught on camera in Times Square changing his shirt who is now defined as a “person of interest.”
ropelight (334377) — 5/3/2010 @ 3:58 pmIf they hit L.A., the nation won’t mourn out of work actors and illegals.
/LA resident
Hawkins (0c2512) — 5/3/2010 @ 4:10 pmWhy in the world would LAPD disband ATD? It makes no sense whatsoever. But then, we have had no “big” terrorist attacks in the US recently, just the smaller, home grown variety, which means the upper echelons of the dept and the city can close their eyes and pretend the threat does not exist. I bet they don’t do much training anymore either. When one of these terrorist gets it right and blows up a bunch of citizens, you will see the dept and the city fathers trying to find some poor sgt or PIII to blame the disaster on. God help LA. I am glad I retired and no longer have to endure the unending stupidity of how the city operates. But it still breaks my heart to know people and officers will die because of their stupidity.
415woman (654ef8) — 5/3/2010 @ 6:41 pmThe person was tailed by the FBI a couple of days before. The underwear bomber was told about his jaunt prior to boarding the plane. If we start seeing terrorists under the mattress and not address the real problem both Congressmen Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich are yelling from the mountain tops and that’s our occupation of the western part of Asia is the root cause, then expect more. And now our city council wants to cut the LAPD and refuse to address the problem his Democratic leader Barack Obama is putting us in? Even Dennis Kucinich, a Democrat out of Ohio knows the cause.
TimFromLA (df36b3) — 5/4/2010 @ 12:40 pmKucinich does not live in reality, Tim. These people were trying to kill us – and succeeding – long before we “occupied” “the western part of Asia”.
Inverting cause and effect is not a sign of sanity.
SPQR (26be8b) — 5/4/2010 @ 12:50 pmWhat is it about the noun “Tim” that is so mind-altering?
AD - RtR/OS! (b5b5b2) — 5/4/2010 @ 1:43 pmLAPD didn’t dismantle CTCIB or ATD, now MCD. It disbanded their Archangel unit only. Saint Michael is not happy!
Swami Squad (7a16e0) — 5/5/2010 @ 1:02 pm