Lessons from Boston

Last week, Boston became the latest image of terror. There could be no more atrocious counterpoint to the joy, fraternity and brute effort embodied by a marathon run by the masses than those two backpacks, filled with explosives and shrapnel, placed on the ground by the finishing line last Monday. The images of dozens of runners with their legs blown off are the sum of depravity and insanity.

The murderers’ desire to amplify their horrifying message by attacking such a crowded event turned out to be their downfall: a number of the thousands of cameras at the scene recorded the every movement of Chechen brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who were identified three days after the attack. Here we have seen the most useful face of this Big Brother society. The collaboration of the people has been decisive and the efficiency of the security forces impressive; no sooner had the tragedy occurred than officers were deployed in an impressive operation to solve the crime.

There is still a lot to be revealed about the attack, the first successful attempt since Sept. 11 on American soil. Its perpetrators were living and studying in the United States. The impression they left on social media paints them as devout Muslims and activists for Chechen independence, a central preoccupation for many Islamist militias following the war with Russia. Time will tell if they acted alone, as a disenfranchised pair, or whether they were part of a larger plot.

Nonetheless, the tragedy has revealed the best side of this beaten country. The inhabitants of Boston have reacted bravely and have jumped to the aid of the victims without fuss or show, refusing to let the attack paralyze them. Both federal and local authorities have risen to the demands of such testing circumstances and have put the people first. Barack Obama has acted serenely and prudently, and both Republicans and Democrats have put their differences to one side.

One can only hope that this spirit of unity will last, especially if the Islamist lead is confirmed. The shadow of the attack in Benghazi, seven months ago, still looms. An attack on the U.S. Consulate in the Libyan city by a Salafi terrorist cell, resulting in the death of the ambassador and three other consulate workers, brought to light a series of miscalculations on the part of Obama that damaged his standing. His adversaries would be wise not to use the Boston attack as ammunition against the president’s plan to shelve the war on terror unleashed in the wake of Sept. 11 — with ugly off-shoots such as Guantánamo Bay —in order to get back to the principles and values on which the United States was founded.

The country is clearly more secure today than it was 12 years ago. But in the fight against ever more fragmented terrorist groups, though there are more victories than defeats, some battles are nonetheless lost. Terrorism is a part of our lives, and the best response is that offered by the people of Boston: on to the next race.