On Monday June 21 Faisal Shahzad of Connecticut plead guilty to a 10 count indictment for activities connected to his attempt to set off a car bomb in New York City’s Times Square last May. Shahzad, an American citizen, was born in Pakistan, and calls himself a “Muslim soldier” who sees it as his duty to seek revenge for US attacks in Muslim countries. He stated in court that he would plead guilty “100 times over” until the US pulls troops from Afghanistan and Pakistan. Shahzad attended college in Connecticut, was married and had lived in the US for 10 years when this occurred. He told officials that he had gone to Pakistan to join a Taliban militant extremist group based there. He stayed with that group for about 40 days and received training in explosives. He said he received funding from various sources and returned to Connecticut in February when he began to build the bomb. He told authorities that he chose Times Square rather than a specific building. He lit the fuses on the bomb hoping that it would explode in less than 5 minutes. He then walked to Grand Central Station and took the train back to Connecticut, carrying a fold-up 9 mm rifle in his laptop case in case he was attacked. The bomb was discovered by street vendors moments after he left it. Shahzad was arrested aboard a flight to Dubai that was about to leave JFK Airport. He admitted to law enforcement that he carried out his attack willingly. He waved his Miranda rights and he faces life in prison.
Shahzad is only one of many home-grown terrorists who have surfaced in the past couple of years. I find their determination to kill Americans to seek revenge is chilling. Attacking and killing innocent Americans who are just trying to go about their daily lives is horrible and will not solve the problems between our countries.
Bray, Chad. "Bomber Pleads Guilty in Plot." The Wall Street Journal. 22 June 2010.
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