Boston

I've been watching the madness in Boston with a sinking heart. And with a hope and pride for Americans.

The fact that anyone can justify putting a bomb in the midst of a crowd just baffles me. What philosophy, what religion or political doctrine, can condone the slaughter of innocents in the name of whatever cause?

Whether they be foreign or domestic, terrorists or freedom fighters, there is no military value to such an act. Were they to have attacked a police station, or a government facility, I would still be angry, don't get me wrong. But I could at least understand it.

But an act such as this just strengthens resolve. I've never seen such a bombing, whether it be by the IRA in a London pub or the financial district, Libya in a Berlin disco or a jumbo jet over Lockerbie, or even Timothy McVeigh in Oklahoma City, that did anything other than convince their "opponent" to do anything other than to band together against the threat. Governments don't run from things which scare them, they stomp them into the ground so they won't threaten them again.

It also highlighted for the world something I've always loved about my country. While video showed half the people streaming away in panic from the smoke and carnage, it also showed so many people sprinting directly into the maelstrom, heedless of personal danger, in order to help the wounded. Not just the trained professionals, but also runners stripping off their shirts after running 26 miles and using those shirts to apply tourniquets or compresses. People in the crowd, some injured themselves, helping those around them.

My thoughts go out to all injured in the bombing, and especially to those who lost members of their family.