NY Bombing: Why letters to NY Congressional contingent?

Hot Air ^ | March 06, 2008 | by Ed Morrissey

[jdm]

The bombing of a military recruitment center keeps getting stranger and stranger. The eight Congressional Representatives from New York City all received a copy of a picture of the targeted office, showing deliberate premeditated intent to hit the recruiting center. They also received a letter, but it contained no threat:

Eight House Democrats were mailed a letter and photo of a Times Square recruiting station in Manhattan before it was bombed this morning, according to House insiders.

The letter did not contain any specific threats against the lawmakers or the site, but the U.S. Capitol Police and the FBI are now investigating the matter.

With the late reporting today suggesting that the perpetrator could also have been responsible for two earlier bombing attacks against the Mexican and British consulates, it seemed that the choice of target may have been coincidental. Now we’re back to seeing this as a deliberate choice for the bomber. Reports from the earlier bombings didn’t include any communication with the targets, so this attack looks like some kind of political message — but what, we don’t yet know.

Stay tuned.

UPDATE: The content of the letters is now known, and it is an anti-war rant:

Police are investigating letters that arrived Thursday at Capitol Hill offices containing a photo of the Times Square military recruiting office before it was bombed and including the claim “We Did It.”

The manila envelopes contained a photo of a man standing in front of the recruiting station, according to a Democratic aide who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is under investigation. The photo was the kind commonly sent as a holiday greeting card.

The message on the card: “Happy New Year, We Did It.”

The envelope also contained a packet of approximately 10 sheets of paper that seemed to be a political manifesto railing against the Iraq war and a booklet. The aide didn’t know what the booklet was.

So it was in fact an act of political terrorism by some fringe anti-war activist. Of course, someone else had to have taken the picture, which indicates at least one accessory to the attack.

UPDATE II: Michelle notes that there may have been more than eight recipients of the letter; the FBI and the Capitol Hill postmaster is investigating it.

UPDATE III: Now MS-NBC says the letters are just a coincidence:

Law enforcement officials tell NBC News they believe they have identified the man who sent letters to several Capitol Hill offices that contained a photo of the Times Square military recruiting office before it was bombed and the words “We Did It.”

The letters, which arrived Thursday and at first glance appeared to take credit for Thursday’s pre-dawn bombing, are not believed to be connected to the blast, officials said.

The alleged letter-sender was being questioned, but there was no indication he committed any crime, officials said.

Why do they think it’s unrelated?  The man signed the letters.

[Kirkwood]

Of course they could be related. This is standard govt denial.

[CharlesWayneCT]

I imagine that if they aren’t related, the guy is probably wishing his letters had arrived a couple of weeks earlier or later.

[mbarker12474]

Code Pink

[Ignatz]

So it was BDS-afflicted so-called “progressives”. Who woulda guessed? [/sarc]

[torchthemummy]

The letters, which arrived Thursday and at first glance appeared to take credit for Thursday’s pre-dawn bombing, are not believed to be connected to the blast, officials said.

There have been many times that I've said that I couldn't be more insulted but this denial of any connection, an amazing coincidence, is beyond insulting.

A bomb is set off at a Times Square military recruiting center and ON THE VERY SAME DAY that exact same military recruiting station is pictured in the letters with the message, "We Did It", and we are to believe that there is NO CONNECTION?

I don't know who (the police source is anonymous) but it is a reasonable conclusion that there is a cover-up so that those that are against the war in Iraq, and very vocal about it (even threatening internet/public speech-wise), aren't tangentially labeled "domestic terrorists."

Unf@#kingbelievable.

[torchthemummy]

Here's the description of a photo MSNBC decided to pull out of their arse obviously to reignite a conspiracy theory:

(FILES)An early projection for US President George W. Bush is shown on a large screen in New York's Times Square during the US presidential elections in this 02 November 2004 file photo. Police cordoned off a section of New York's Times Square early March 6, 2008 after a small explosion near a military recruiting station, officials said. A New York Police Department spokesman said only that there had been a minor explosion, that there were no injuries and that police were investigating the cause of the blast. He said he did not know if the explosion was man-made.A man on a bicycle is believed to have thrown a "small incendiary device" at a police officer, according to a local Eyewitness News report. 8:40 a.m. ET, 3/6/08

[Republicanus_Tyrannus]

Well, allow me to speculate a bit.

Assume that for this “explanation” of complete unbelievable coincidence was just as it appears - a cover story.

Ok. Now the question to ask is - IF it is, WHY?

What possible reason would the NYPD and the NY media choose to put out such a ridiculous assertion? What overwhelming (since it has to be overwhelming) purpose would this serve? What is it preventing?

What it is preventing is civil war. Be honest - we’re teetering on the edge of a nation-wide revolted explosion of mortal anger towards the left. Serious people know that the American culture is not at all merciful when roused. And serious, sober people know that this or things like this may be the last straw on the camel’s back. They’re lying to try to reduce the chance of a vicious, internecine Total War.

This kind of whistling by the graveyard will work once. We’re good people here in America, but we have our limits. We’re likely to allow THIS to pass, but not one single incident more, I think.

[torchthemummy]

What it is preventing is civil war.

You make some valid points and it was kind of the direction I was going. If this is labeled terrorism then it would make a public acknowledgement that there are very dangerous elements in the anti-war movement. From there many that are "on the brink" would assume a huge conspiracy against them which of course would create even more brinkmanship. And from there...

I think your point can be applied to the JFK assasination and wherever the truth lies. It certainly isn't that Oswald did it all himself and the evidence seems to be clear that there was no evidence to link him to actually shooting JFK. But the fact that a supposed communist sympathiser that had lived in Russia was the sole culprit eliminated possible war with Russia/Cuba if the source couldn't be contained to one perpetrator.

[scrabblehack]

# 5. Gary Ackerman (D) (Queens/Nassau)
# 6. Gregory W. Meeks (D) (Queens)
# 7. Joseph Crowley (D) (Queens/Bronx)
# 8. Jerrold Nadler (D) (Manhattan/Brooklyn)
# 9. Anthony D. Weiner (D) (Brooklyn/Queens)
# 10. Ed Towns (D) (Brooklyn)
# 11. Yvette D. Clarke (D) (Brooklyn)
# 12. Nydia Velázquez (D) (Brooklyn/Manhattan/Queens)
# 13. Vito Fossella (R) (Staten Island/Brooklyn)
# 14. Carolyn B. Maloney (D) (Manhattan/Queens)
# 15. Charles B. Rangel (D) (Manhattan/Queens)
# 16. José Serrano (D) (Bronx)
# 17. Eliot L. Engel (D) (Bronx/Westchester/Rockland)

OK, Fossella’s a Republican. That leaves 12 Democrats.
Is there anything unusual about the Democrats who didn’t receive the picture?

The only thing that comes to mind is that districts 17 and 6 are not entirely within NYC...but that doesn’t quite fit either.