So the NYPD are trying to figure out what happened this morning at the Times Square Military Recruitment Office.

An explosive device caused minor damage to an empty military recruiting station in Times Square early Thursday, shaking guests in hotel rooms high above “the crossroads of the world.”

Police blocked off the area to investigate the explosion, which occurred at about 3:45 a.m., shattering the station’s glass entryway. No one was injured.

“If it is something that’s directed toward American troops than it’s something that’s taken very seriously and is pretty unfortunate,” said Army Capt. Charlie Jaquillard, who is the commander of Army recruiting in Manhattan.

Thank God that it appears that no one was hurt.

There isn’t any question in my mind that it was directed at the troops. Obviously no one can say with complete confidence who was behind the attack, and I’m not going to start pointing the finger whatever group of hippies happened to be there around the time, but the explosive attack is all too reminiscent of the terrorism perpetrated by left-wing radicals in the 1960s and 1970s.

This sort of thing couldn’t come up at a worse time for Barack Obama. The presidential hopeful was recently exposed as having meetings and dealings with former left-wing terrorist bombers, who are the exact sort of people we’re worrying might have done this today. I wonder if the mainstream media will tie any of this together, assuming expected parties are responsible, but I seriously doubt it.

There is a history of mysterious explosions in the city which deserves to be mentioned before indulging in any further speculation.

In October, two small explosive devices were tossed over a fence at the Mexican consulate, shattering three windows but causing no injuries. No threats had been made against the consulate, and no one took responsibility for the explosion, police said.

At the time, police said they were investigating whether it was connected to a similar incident at the British consulate on May 5, 2005.

In that incident, the explosions took place in the early morning hours, when Britons were going to the polls in an election that returned Prime Minister Tony Blair to power.

Mayor Bloomberg came out and said that it appeared to be directed at the military, which should offend all enlisted personnel. It should offend everyone, especially Code Pink. Let’s see how quick the far-left is to denounce terrorist action. (scroll down for a hint how the Kos kids are responding)

(via Sister Toldjah) It also appears that the bomber was a man in a hoodie riding a bicycle. Well, at least that seems like the best lead at the moment to me.

CBS News correspondent Jeff Glor reports a man wearing a gray hoodie was seen on a bike leaving the scene. Glor added that the FBI is joining the investigation.

Witnesses staying at a Marriott hotel four blocks away said they could feel the building shake with the blast.

A witness told CBS station WCBS-TV, “I heard this big bang. I thought it was thunder. I looked out the window, and didn’t see any rain, I saw people running.”

“It shook the building. I thought it could have been thunder, but I looked down and there was a massive plume of smoke so I knew it was an explosion,” said Terry Leighton, 48, of London, who was staying on the 21st floor of the Marriott.

Let me say this: If this was the work of a left-wing group and not some lone psychopath then I think the opposition to the war has lost. America has been unwilling to return to the way it treated those returning from Vietnam, and even Democrats who are vehemently anti-war won’t condone violence like this. There are a sizable majority of liberals who can’t stand George Bush but still believe in our troops and counterterrorism, even if they’ve got their heads in the sand as to how wide-reaching the threat of Islamic fascism is. Just because someone trotted down to take part in a big protest doesn’t mean they’re willing to align themselves with people who want to attack our military, especially if those domestic terrorist elements are exposed in plain sight as the lunatics they are.

If the media continues to cover for domestic terrorist groups by ignoring them (such as they do with groups like ELF) then it could take another few horrible attacks before coverage becomes widespread enough to have an effect.

Once again, let’s caution against overly caustic rhetoric before we even have preliminary results from an investigation, but reaction is coming hot and heavy from the blogosphere.

Gateway Pundit has a good initial roundup and some pictures of the usual leftist loonies (their name is Grandmothers against the War, if that tells you anything) as well as pictures of the damage.

Atlas Shrugs sees a ‘low grade civil war’ on the horizon. I don’t think that it would ever come to anything like that because a solid majority of the American public at least loves the military, though I am worried that police will never be willing to take the steps necessary to secure the safety of our public in the face of left-wing protests and disruptions. Berkley marine protests, anyone? Atlas also offers up the tip hotline, if you know anything.

It was not a sophisticated device. Examining where the box (where the bomb was placed) was purchases. There is one witness who saw the enemy on a bicycle wearing a backpack. If you saw anything or know wnaything call 1800 577 tips.

They are looking art all the cameras in the area. Again, if you know anything is 1 800 577 tips.

Hot Air has more and some left-wing Kos kook reaction.

It’s nothng [sic] new for the right to CAUSE or INCITE the violence, or to trigger arranged mob responses, and make sure it all gets pinned on the Left. And the right seems to be able to get the FBI and law enforcement to do this for them as well. Anarchy, chaos, property damage, physical harm, mayhem, murder, militarized police with massive crowd control equipment, are all ‘options’ the right are eager to use to shut down any potentially energizing movement.

What an idiot. Invoking the vast right-wing conspiracy bull won’t fly but if they want to put it out there, all it can do is hurt them.

Big Dogs Weblog believes this escalation will be mimicked. If this was related to any (even vaguely) organized anti-war group, then I fear he is more than right.

Power Line wonders: Islamic Extremists or Code Pinkers?

Michelle Malkin has some coverage links and some reader e-mails posted that show the lack of mainstream media coverage. I told you that I think this thing will be swept under the rug. I pray that I’m wrong.

Blackfive thinks Berkeley has upped the ante.

QandO further examines the past explosion connection.

This ain’t Hell wonders if we’ll see the same amount of coverage as we do when an abortion clinic is attacked.

JammieWearingFool sees a climate of hate at work.

Jawa Report says the explosive was a small ammo can filled with explosive powder.

Ace of Spades says Fox is flashing explosives found at a UC Davis dorm room.

Right Truth thinks they might have gone too far.

Update 4PM CST:

Allahpundit at Hot Air posts the surveillance video of the attack and reminds that we don’t know what nutter did this yet.

Tags: american troops, army capt, barack obama, bombers, crossroads of the world, explosions, explosive device, explosive devices, mainstream media, mexican consulate, military recruitment, new york explosion, New York terrorism, nypd, pointing the finger, radicals, recruiting station, recruitment office, three windows, time police, times square, world police

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 6th, 2008 at 9:22 AM and is filed under Nutter Butters, Terrorism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.