Townley Jordan - 12 Hours, 3 Attacks

Summary: Twelve hours, three attacks. This is what went on in America this weekend, with explosions in the streets of New York City and New Jersey, and a stabbing rampage in Minnesota. The bombing in New Jersey did not harm anyone; it is assumed that it was supposed to go off during the Marine Corps charity run, however, the run was delayed. The pipe bomb was attached to a cell phone timer, which thankfully, did not take into account this delay. At 8:30 pm in New York, an explosion went off in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. The explosion injured twenty nine people, and sent many running for cover. Officials also found a pressure cooker blocks away, and said that it was similar to the dumpster bomb in Chelsea. Both of these devices were set off by phone timers as well, but authorities have not concluded whether or not the incidents in New York and New Jersey are linked. Everyone is wondering if any or all of the three were acts of terror. In the case of the Minnesota stabbings, which happened at 9 pm in St. Cloud, Minnesota, a man dressed in a security guard uniform came into the Crossroads Mall, and stabbed nine people. Witnesses say that he made a reference to Allah and asked at least one of the victims whether or not they were Muslim.  After the murderer had been shot by an off-duty police officer, ISIS claimed that the man had been a “soldier of the Islamic State”.

Analysis: This article was written in the wake of the weekend’s terrible events. Since it was written, more information has been released, but it is the insight of what we knew this morning (Monday). This article is very disturbing and unsettling, but because of the scary frequency that terror attacks have been happening all over the world, it is not shocking. The fact that terror attacks are no longer humongous things that everyone is shocked by is an issue because it shows that they are becoming more and more common in this time, and that if we do not do something about it, we could be dealing with these same issues forty years from now when our generation is in the place of authority. The article was an informative paper on the three attacks that happened in America this weekend. This article relates to 9/11, which is when the war on terror began. 9/11 was the first, and probably worst, major terror attack in our nation’s history, because of the massive casualties it lead to the war on terror as well as an upping of our security. This is why since then, the terror attacks have become less large and catastrophic, and are now more often bombings or shootings. These are also horrible and because they are easier to pull off than such a huge scheme as 9/11, are happening more frequently. This is a huge issue in America as well as in Europe and it needs to be dealt with.

Link: 12 Hours, Three Attacks