This week's tragedy in Boston is clearly an act of terror - just look at the materials used to make the bombs - but there's something eerily disturbing and different about this attack on a major American city. In past acts of a similar nature carried out by foreign elements, the perpetrators were quick to claim responsibility and celebrate their success at striking out against the big, supposedly bad, U.S.A.
If it were al Qaeda's handiwork, one would have expected some extremist leader to have sent a message from afar, claiming responsibility and praising the heavens for its success. If it was some rogue element from the increasingly bellicose North Korean regime, one would have expected a post-attack propaganda barrage. It seems at least as likely that the attack came from an element inside the U.S. as from outside it. But of course, we'll have to wait and see.
The fact that the attacker or attackers targeted the Boston Marathon is unsettling. This writer has run the race twice and has long regarded it as a peak experience - the first marathon, where the 42.2-kilometre (26.2-mile) marathon distance was set, the place where 1 million spectators come out to cheer competitors on along a long-established, point-to-point course. It's a race you can't just enter -you have meet the qualifying time. For decades, "Boston" has been the Holy Grail for Average Joe and Jill Runner, a difficult but attainable goal for those who dedicate themselves to it. For most, crossing the finish line on Boylston Street is a crowning achievement, a celebration.
And now, that event has been marred by tragedy. Though similar, this isn't the same as that awful day in 1972 in Munich, when 11 Israeli athletes were murdered by Palestinian extremists during the Olympics.
Sure, Boston is a high-profile race run by scores of elite athletes, but mostly it's about Average Joe and Jill. That's what really makes this an act of terror -that it could have been almost any of us, struck down just as we were about to mark one of our greatest achievements.
Our support goes out to those working to investigate who's responsible and bring them to justice, and our deepest sympathy goes out to all the victims, their families and all affected by the tragedy.
-David Burke
