This column is being written on Friday, April 13. The Boston bombings have occurred and the search for the perpetrators is underway. One was killed last night. The other is still sought.
Several suburban Boston communities are in shut down. Which means the police have told everyone to stay inside with their doors locked. It has just been reported that portions of Boston are also in shut down. More than 1 million people are affected by the shut down.
Boston area colleges and universities are closed. Mass transit is not running.
The streets are crowded with all sort of police officials from the FBI down to the small township police officer. All appear ready to do war. Most are wearing thick bullet proof vests. All are carrying weapons.
There is also military. Huge war type vehicles carrying soldiers and police are seen every where.
America has neither seen nor experienced what is going on in the search for the desperadoes. Never. Well, maybe one time. When the British were occupying New York City during the Revolution.
Two thoughts occur which I would like to share with you. How I view what is happening.
First, the Boston Marathon bombings are a reflection of man's inhumanity.
The two men now known to have been involved constructed home made bombs. Bombs containing carpenter nails, small ball bearings, nails and small knife type objects. The two knew the blasts would kill and maim. The result was intended. They even stayed around to see the result of their handiwork after the bombs went off.
The present toll is 3 dead and 174 injured. A young boy was killed, his youngest sister lost a leg, and his mother's brain was impaled with some sort of flying metallic object. The mother required immediate brain surgery.Two brothers each lost a leg.
Man likes to kill. He enjoys it. From almost day one. Genesis tells us Adam and Eve had two sons. Cain and Abel. Cain killed Abel out of jealousy.
Since then man has been engaged in killing, maiming and hurting his fellow man one way or another.Think of all the wars down through the centuries. Genocides in addition. Happenings such as the Inquisition and Holocaust.
In last one hundred years, the United States has been involved in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam, Granada, Iraq and Afghanistan.
It is rare if there has been a time when there was no war or massive killings in some part of the world.
Top it off with the gun killings in the United States. Thirty thousand a year.
Killing, maiming and causing pain are inherent in man. Whether we like to admit it, it is part of man's nature.
The second thought of which I have been mindful as the events of this week unfolded is that the world is changing. It dramatically did with 9/11. It continues to change with the Boston bombings.
Since 9/11 we have airport security checks, a new Federal Department of Homeland Security, etc.
Now as a result of the Boston Marathon bombings, the streets of Boston and its surrounding area appear a war zone. Similar to a military occupation. Police authorities and soldiers everywhere. Guns in full view. Military vehicles. More than 1 million people told to stay home behind lock doors.
The scenes on television remind me of cities during World War II that were under Nazi occupation, as well as photos and videos we have seen of our soldiers fighting in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
It is a precedent. We have never seen anything even close to this in the United States in the past.
There will be heightened security from this point forward. Even after the accomplice to the Boston bombings is captured. We will have gone to another level of security which will remain with us for many years. Just as airport security has since 9/11.
The world has once again changed. It will continue to change.
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