In Times Square, the blue line held

By Eugene Robinson
WashPost
Friday, May 7, 2010

The system worked. Authorities responded to the attempted Times Square bombing about as well as anyone possibly could -- proving, once again, that viewing terrorism exclusively in a military context is wrong. It's a police matter, too.

That Faisal Shahzad was apprehended just 53 hours after he allegedly left an explosives-packed SUV at Manhattan's teeming crossroads really is the stuff of a cinematic thriller. As New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly suggested, only fictional terrorist-hunter Jack Bauer of Fox's "24" could have done it better. And unlike Bauer, the real-life police officers and FBI agents who cracked the case didn't have to torture anyone.

The whole incident proves the value of old-fashioned -- and newfangled -- police work in countering the terrorist threat. New York beat cops were nearby when street vendors noticed the suspicious vehicle, which was emitting popping noises and smoke. The city has a sophisticated explosives unit that was able to quickly defuse the amateurish car-bomb. From the vehicle identification number, police found the Nissan Pathfinder's last registered owner, who had recently sold the SUV to a young man for cash.

Police and the FBI identified Shahzad by analyzing phone calls made with a disposable cell phone. Then came the only blemish on the authorities' otherwise stellar performance: Details of the investigation began to leak to news organizations, and reporters practically raced police and the FBI to Shahzad's Connecticut haunts, according to a National Public Radio report.

(More here.)