Painted In Blood

 

Charles Krupa

 

People on the scene were aghast, frightened out of their wits, the peace of the day and the event of the Boston Marathon violated beyond comprehension. They were panic-stricken, and the first-responders who wasted no time appearing on the scene of unimaginable carnage seemed themselves incapable of mustering the internal resources to command the day and instruct people how to proceed.

The first-responders were, in fact, so concentrated on their first order of business, to carry away the wounded for emergency treatment to try to save the lives of those most seriously maimed, they were focused on that priority. Everyone found it impossible not to be shocked by what they saw; the numbers of those injured and the overwhelming numbers who had lost limbs.

David L. Ryan

The bombs that were set with a measure of precision to explode within minutes of each other seemed to come out of nowhere; the massive detonations just appeared, the atmosphere was full of sound, and fury and destruction. Shrapnel, metal pieces whose inclusion in the explosive devices were there for one purpose only, to cause as much damage to human flesh as possible, did their work.

"We still do not know who did this or why. And people shouldn't jump to conclusions before we have all the facts. But make no mistake. We will get to the bottom of this.... Any responsible individuals, any responsible groups will feel the full weight of justice", promised President Barack Obama. And, as today progressed he admitted; this was a terrorist attack.

And the twin pejoratives of Western neuroses that so plagues the world of left-social-justice -- Islamophobia and ethnic-profiling have raised their ugly heads. Ethnic profiling, of necessity, being the foster child of Islamophobia. And the rampant injustice of jumping to conclusions before all the facts are adequately known has kicked in. Aided and abetted by reality, needless to say.

Members of Boston's Joint Terrorist Task Force were interviewing a wounded man seen running from the scene of the two blasts. The FBI has joined the Boston task force in its investigation. Three people dead, well over a hundred people wounded, seventeen of them seriously enough to have their survival threatened. Does a wounded person run from aid in the person of first-responders?

Bruce Mendelsohn

A wounded Saudi national, living in Boston with two other young men, all members of a prominent Saudi family, known for their orthodox version of Islam, in a region suspected to be highly supportive of al-Qaeda. A video exists showing a swarthy man of hefty build with a large backpack, his head hooded, attempting to enter a restricted area of the Boston run, being turned away.

The bombs have turned out to be improvised explosive devices, using materials found in "your mother's kitchen", fitting right in with instructions found among other places on the online al-Qaeda instruction manual. Two pressure cookers stuffed with metal pieces. Set to go off in an area crowded with tens of thousands, competing and viewing the Boston Marathon. What an inspired venue.

"I started running toward the blast. And there were people all over the floor. We started grabbing tourniquets and started tying legs. A lot of people amputated.  ...At least 24 to 30 people have at least one leg missing, or an ankle missing, or two legs missing", stated 35-year-old Roupen Bastajian, a state trooper from Rhode Island, himself a race contestant.

Bomb-sniffing dogs swept the area with the emergency response on the scene as Boston was propelled into full-scale terror alert. Sad that alert did not go off before the bombs were detonated. Police ordered cell service shut down in the area to ensure no remote detonations could take place, in the event that other bombs might yet explode.

A bystander shot a video showing civilians and uniformed soldiers dashing through the haze of the explosion to tear down fencing and flags lining the street so a path could be cleared for ambulances and medical personnel. The sidewalk where the blasts occurred were painted in blood.