The Worst Terrorist Ever?

Shahzad from a Facebook photo. Photo courtesy of the Huffington Post

Now, I want to preface this post by saying Saturday’s Times Square Bomb Scare could have had disastrous effects. Not only could there have been deaths involved, but catastrophic consequences for the rest of the world. With that said, a lot of this story is just not sitting right with me, and I can’t help but thinking that Faisal Shahzad might be the worst terrorist ever.

First, and most importantly, Shahzad’s plan fizzled out along with the bomb he tried to detonate. I don’t know a lot about bombs, so I can’t really say that they are 100 percent foolproof, but to add insult to injury, Shahzad parked his Nissan Pathfinder right in front of a NY street vendor. Are you serious? Those guys have been at their posts for years and – even on the busiest block on the planet – know when something is out of place. Shahzad loses points for the faulty bomb, but even more for not doing his location scout.

Mayor Bloomberg addresses reporters early Sunday morning, in a scene straight out of Batman. Photo courtesy of The New York Times.

Second, he bought his car off Craigslist, and while he changed the license plates on the vehicle to try and make it untraceable, he left his fingerprints all over it. I think Shahzad has been living in America long enough to know that with Craigslist, there’s ALWAYS a paper trail. And, with all the crime shows available to us Westerners, leaving your fingerprints at the scene of the crime is the first thing you DON’T do.

After his arrest at JFK (where there’s always delays, so obviously Shahzad wasn’t thinking “quick getaway”), he was quick to give up his accomplices, as well as provide police with information regarding his bomb-making training. I’m not an interrogator by nature (I couldn’t even hack it as a general assignment reporter), but I would venture to say that seasoned terrorists don’t screw the pooch so easily. I mean, we would know where Osama Bin Laden is by now, right?

Shahzad's student visa. Photo courtesy of The New York Times.

From pictures of this man, his wife, and his Connecticut home, I know there’s no way I’d ever be able to pick him out as a terrorist. In fact, I’d even say from these pictures that Shahzad was happy (I’d really like to think that this is going to turn into some kind of Law and Order episode where the terrorist actually WANTED the bomb to not detonate so that police would detain him and he could give them clues. Plot twist!).

I’m really glad we don’t have to know what it would have been like if the bomb had gone off on Saturday. I’m really glad that no lives had to be spared. And I’m really glad that New York City is safe and sound. So thank you Shahzad, for being such a bad terrorist.