Gen. David Petraeus, head of U.S. Central Command, said in a statement Friday to The Associated Press that alleged bomber Faisal Shahzad was inspired by militants in Pakistan but didn't necessarily have direct contact with them. [Associated Press and Huffington Post]Faisal Shahzad acted alone, says UN envoy Hussain Haroon
Faisal Shahzad, the main accused of the failed car bombing in New York City’s Times Square, is a “misguided soul” who acted alone, Pakistani Ambassador to the UN Hussain Haroon said on Tuesday. The ambassador made these remarks while giving an interview to CBS Television. [Pakistan Daily News]Times Square car bomb: authorities believe Faisal Shahzad acted alone
A law enforcement official said that authorities don't believe there are any other US suspects in the plot and that several arrests in Pakistan in the past two days were not related. [Telegraph UK]Times Square bomb plotter Faisal Shahzad seems to be 'lone wolf' with no terror contacts: Petraeus
Faisal Shahzad apparently was "a lone wolf" who never had direct contact with militants in his homeland of Pakistan, Gen. David Petraeus told The Associated Press. Petraeus, the commander of U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, said there was no indication that Shahzad worked with others in concocting the terror attack or the homemade bomb. [NY Daily News]Lone wolf? Acting alone? Not so much.
Here's a video he produced in the lead up to his jihadist assault on Times Square, New York City.
The Al Arabiya news network released the video in the past week. In it, the failed murderer speaks of his lust for revenge. And when he appeared in front of U.S. District Judge Miriam Cedarbaum on 22nd June, he made fairly plain what he set out to do, why and in whose company, according to this AP report:
"One has to understand where I'm coming from," he said in an unusual departure from tightly scripted guilty pleas, with his defense attorney and prosecutors sitting in silence in federal court in Manhattan. "I consider myself ... a Muslim soldier... I am part of the answer to the U.S. terrorizing the Muslim nations and the Muslim people. And, on behalf of that, I'm avenging the attack."You can understand why it's comforting for US officials, diplomats and UN bureaucrats to think of the Shahzad's of this world as lone wolves, acting alone, inspired by some personal, private spark. Or at least to pretend publicly that they're thinking that way.
Sadly, crucially, terrorism is not like that. It attracts hordes of would-be jihadists. It takes planning and resources. It's driven by hatred. And it's not going away. On the contrary.
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