Right and wrong reaction to New York terror attack

Playing out as it did in the shadows of the horrific 9/11 World Trade Center attack, Tuesday’s truck rampage in Lower Manhattan was bound to elicit comparisons to that fateful fall day in 2001.

After all, both attacks were inspired by radical Islamist dogma. Both attacks were thoroughly planned to inflict massive civilian casualties. And both attacks cemented national resolve to stop further attacks in their tracks.

Nonetheless, differences far outweigh similarities in the two acts of rabid hate in the Big Apple. Most of those differences are positive – far fewer casualties and far more sophisticated responses – but on one important front, the official U.S. reaction was decidedly premature. Specifically, attempts by President Donald J. Trump and others to politicize the immediate aftermath of the attack merits criticism, not praise.

The attack unfolded shortly after 3 p.m. Halloween day when 29-year-old Sayfullo Saipov, who had immigrated to the United States from Uzbekistan, drove a rented pickup truck into cyclists and runners along about 1-mile swath of a bicycle path blocks from the former Twin Towers. Eight people – five from Argentina, one from Belgium and two Americans – were slaughtered in the frenzy and a dozen others were injured.

While strongly condemning Tuesday’s truck attack, rightly described as “cowardly” by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, we recognize the U.S. has come a long way in its ability to undermine terrorists’ objectives over the past 16 years.

For example, the carnage caused by Saipov could have been much more severe. Reports indicate he had planned to continue his killing spree onto the Brooklyn Bridge, where fatalities and injuries could have soared exponentially.

After crashing into a school bus and stepping out of his truck, 29-year-old Saipov was shot in the abdomen by New York City Police Officer Ryan Nash. “He is a hero, there is no doubt,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said of Nash.

That quick and effective response by counterterrorism-trained New York police and firefighters paid off. So have more sophisticated intelligence gathering and more cooperative relationships with other nations in the bull’s-eye of terrorist aims.

Few attacks this year

The proof is in the relative paucity of successful international terrorist acts in this country in recent years. Tuesday’s attack was the first such ISIS-inspired attack on American soil this year, the first since last November’s truck and knife attack at Ohio State University and the first such fatal attack since the Pulse nightclub shooting of June 2016, when dozens were killed by an ISIS disciple.

But for all of the progress the U.S. and the West have logged in understanding and combating terror, the initial response Tuesday from the president of the United States proved troubling.

Rather than following the protocols of Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama who measured their words carefully and offered all the necessary assistance the federal government could muster, Trump offered bluster.

True to form, the president unleashed a volley of mean-spirited tweets that run counter to thoughtful leadership in a time of crisis.

Trump circumvented traditional norms in arguing that Saipov should be sent to Guantanamo Bay, that he should receive the death penalty and that the visa lottery program that enabled him to enter the U.S. should be eliminated.

His appeals for capital punishment may well complicate the case for prosecutors and give defense attorneys a chance to argue their client’s right to a fair trial have been compromised. Trump’s attack on the immigration lottery continues his consistent path of casting aspersions on the nationalities, races and religions of foreigners seeking legal entry into this country.

In the days, weeks and months ahead, the FBI and other law-enforcement agenices must spare no energy in uncovering motives and in identifying any possible co-conspirators to the crime. That task will be made much easier, given the instigator of the attack is alive to tell the story.

For now, it’s time for all Americans to invest faith in those officials in the overarching goal of deterring future attacks. Now is certainly not the time to politicize tragedy.