We Got Lucky ... This Time

[Valin]

The Weekly Standard:

ISIS-inspired attackers wreak havoc, again.

Thomas Joscelyn

Oct 03, 2016

 

At approximately 9:35 a.m. on Saturday, September 17, a garbage can exploded along the route of the Seaside Semper Five Marine Corps Charity 5K Race in Seaside Park, New Jersey. Fortunately, no one was injured. The event’s organizers later cited a delay, caused by registration problems and a suspicious backpack that had to be investigated, as a blessing in disguise. Had the race started on time, participants could have been killed or wounded. No one knew it yet, but America was about to get lucky several more times in the hours that followed.

 

(Snip)

 

The president may be right, in the sense that there was no direct relationship between the two men who attacked in the Midwest and the Northeast. However, there is at least one connection between the terrorists, even if it is only ideological: They were both jihadists. And the more we've learned about them, the more reasons we have to suspect that they were at least inspired by the Islamic State, or ISIS.

 

(Snip)

 

If more capable terrorists decide to strike in the coming months, we might not be as lucky. Rahami's notebook included a reference to attacking the Kuffar (nonbelievers) "in their backyard."