Times Square’s ‘Amateurish’ Bombing Attempt: Police Look for Leads

100 Pounds of the Wrong Fertilizer Discovered as TTP Ties Doubted

Already shrugged off as “amateurish” earlier this morning, the level of incompetence behind the failed Times Square bombing reached new levels this afternoon, when police opened the metal gun locker.

Inside, police found more than 100 pounds of fertilizer, but not the ammonium nitrate based fertilizer used in past bombings. Rather, the fertilizer was the wrong variety: 100% harmless, it couldn’t have even hypothetically exploded.

Still, the Nissan Pathfinder had enough propane and gasoline in it to do some damage, and police are looking for leads behind who parked it near the broadway theater showing the Lion King, and why.

The proximity to a military recruiter has raised some speculation, but other theories are out there, including Rep. King’s (R – NY) wild guess that it had something to do with a controversial episode of South Park that aired last month.

The Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) audiotape claiming responsibility is still out there too, but the sheer ineptitude of the effort has many shrugging that notion off. In the end the bombing attempt may have been so poorly executed the group might not want credit anyhow.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.