PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - he savage attack on the crowds viewing and participating in the Boston Marathon on Monday was a ruthless assault on innocents that will serve to remind all in authority in democratic nations that cowardly attacks on civilians remain the most potent weapon in the arsenal of terrorists.
To date, no one has come forward to claim responsibility for the attacks, but the severity of the attack, timed for maximum crowd density when the two bombs exploded and the pointlessness of the assault point to the cultivation of terror, with all the attendant helplessness and misjudgment that accompany that state of public mind.
The measured response of the Obama administration makes it clear that the government of the United States understands clearly that the management of the consequences of this attack is as important as any plan for seeking out its perpetrators or mounting a retaliatory attack. The US President confirmed yesterday that the bombing was being investigated as an act of terrorism.