by Terry James
I received a phone call from my friend Chris in New York City the other night and there was incredulity in the distinctive NYC brogue while he talked. A subway train conductor, he was flabbergasted over the number of police personnel combing the subway and other places in the great city on the Hudson.
When a New Yorker who sees as much as a subway conductor sees every day gets excited over something, it is best to pay attention. The intensive concern of the authorities was, he and I surmised, over the attempted bombing in Times Square. Rather than easing as the present moved farther from the moment of the discovery of the loaded vehicle, the anxiety and effort to find…we don’t know what…is increasing everywhere my friend looks.
A suspect has been arrested for the Saturday, May 1, bombing attempt. His name is Faisal Shahzad, apparently a naturalized U.S. citizen of Pakistani origin. He has, authorities believe, had significant help from terrorists in Pakistan.
“U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Mr. Shahzad was detained at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York on Monday as he attempted to board a flight to Dubai. Mr. Holder said it was clear the bomb had been intended to kill Americans” (Steve Kingstone, “Times Square Bomb Suspect Arrested in New York,” BBC News, 5/4/10).
Since the time of my friend’s phone call, made well after the suspect had been taken into custody, the search–for whatever reasons–seems to have intensified. It is said that the bomb found in the car in Times Square was made from fertilizer, fireworks, petrol, and propane gas tanks. It could have, the experts say, caused a significant fireball, though it was crudely constructed. The fact that it was capable of detonation but didn’t go off inspired thoughts that brought me to write this commentary.
Why, my brain prompted, have such attempts to explode terrorist-planted bombs failed in the United States–when the terrorists have been highly successful in exploding their murderous devices in most other areas of the world, including the nations of the West? And why has this level of terrorism not worked here since the attacks on New York and Washington DC on September 11, 2001?
True–there have recently been deadly shootings by those who fit the profile of Mideast terrorists in Arkansas and Texas as well as foiled plots, such as a planned murderous rampage in Virginia. But the hate-filled desire of the radical Islamics in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and other points eastward have not materialized.
We have heard for years that the terrorists will set off nuclear devices in large cities across America and that suitcase atomic bombs are just awaiting to be detonated upon orders–from somewhere–to destroy New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and other huge metropolitan centers. Thankfully, none of these horrendous explosions have happened.
America has the most easily accessible public and government places in the world. And Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, as well as U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and most network and cable news pundits, have acknowledged that in the case of the Times Square bombing attempt, it was just good fortune that the explosive didn’t ignite. They all say that it was good luck and alert citizenry that saved the day in New York last Saturday.
The federal officials patted each other on the backs for apprehending the suspect, even though he almost got off the runway at JFK before the plane was recalled. But they use the words “very fortunate” and “good luck” to describe the bomb’s failed detonation.
There have been many terroristic plans foiled, and those responsible for national security admit that those might just be the proverbial tip of the iceberg in consideration of the number of terroristic plots that are ongoing in this nation. Homeland Security officials readily admit that there is no way to keep track of every possible terrorist plot against this, the most hated nation by the Islamist fanatics (second only to Israel).
So it can’t just be “good fortune” or “luck” that has spared us truly horrific attacks since the 9/11/01 assaults.
Certainly we who believe that God is in control of all things know that it is He, not “good fortune,” who has for some reason spared the U.S. in these deadly attacks. On the other hand, there is absolutely no other nation more deserving of God’s great protective hand being removed. The light and truth that have been shed on America likely make our people the most responsible of all peoples to live under the Lord’s guidance, rather than deliberately pull in the opposite direction, as we have done in so many ways. It is a strange thing to contemplate. It’s like the calm before one of our Arkansas tornadoes. You just sense that the atmosphere is ripe for a coming storm.
The Lord–not Homeland Security, the decreasingly effective U.S. military, or our growingly intrusive yet increasingly incompetent federal government–is our only defense. It is He Who, for His own reasons, has prevented those who hate America and Israel from doing their most dastardly worst.
But judgment awaits and is building. It is past time for God’s people–the born again–to follow the prescription the Lord gave His people, Israel, as recorded in 2 Chronicles 7:14. Like the psalmist, it is time for those who name the name of Christ to say: “The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies” (Psa. 18:2-3).
by Terry James
(I would like to add that I don’t believe it was a coincidence that the “Luck” that people talk about concerning this bomb that did not go off happened on the same day that thousands of people joined in the Capitol and around the nation to pray for this nation’s repentance on May Day.
Rocco T)
