Bombs in Barcelona

A week ago, you may have read that the Catalunyan police carried out a big raid and arrested 14 suspected Islamic terrorists who were about to carry out a suicide bombing on the Barcelona Metro. The raid was carried out in the Raval district, the seedier side of the old city that has a burgeoning population of Pakistanis and Morroccans, as well as the city's largest mosque. Supposedly, the intelligence indicated that an attack was imminent. Today, the national government admitted that the attack was not as imminent as was earlier claimed. It seems clear, however, that coordinated terrorist attacks were going to be carried out in the city, and indeed, we had noted an increased police presence in the Metro over the past two months. Tonight, as Hannah and I waited for a friend in Plaza Catalunya, at least 15 to 20 police vehicles, including a number of paddy wagons, sped by, indicating another possible raid. I am awaiting news in tomorrow's newspapers of the nature of this activity. Meanwhile, life goes on as usual. As I rode the Metro home tonight, I looked around at my fellow passengers, mostly young and lower-income, all potential targets, and I wondered what could possibly be gained by the misery and destruction that would result in, and from, their senseless deaths. There is so much of humanity that is so hard to understand.