The Boston bombings - A measured response is essential

A few things seem pretty certain about the Boston bombings.

First, President Barack Obama’s measured, almost cautious, response stands in stark contrast to the bellicose reaction of his predecessor George W Bush to the attacks on New York almost 12 years ago.

It would, however, be a mistake to imagine that Mr Obama’s controlled response suggests a lack of resolve but rather a realisation that a specific, focussed response would be more easily supported by the international community than the broad, scatter-gun response threatened by Mr Bush. It also recognises the possibility that the attack might be domestic in origin and that the usual, default suspects may not be involved.

Mr Obama has shown that he is prepared to sanction lethal operations but he has also shown, thankfully, that he realises that collateral damage might strengthen America’s enemies rather than weaken them. He has shown how justified the No Drama Obama tag line is and how wonderful a quality calmness is for a leader confronted with the most distressing circumstances.

Second, had the shrapnel and ball bearing bombs been detonated even an hour earlier, the death toll and list of injuries would have been far greater and their international impact would have been far more spectacular. Such high-visibility carnage would have resonated strongly amongst those who oppose America and its secular western allies. Equally, it might have given a very different, more aggressive character to America’s reaction.

Third, the attacks will mean a renewed security right across the world beginning with Margaret Thatcher’s funeral in London today and the weekend London marathon. It is unlikely, too, that the renewed tensions will make using any of the world’s major airports any less trying this summer.

Fourth, and most importantly, anyone who has enjoyed the hospitality of Boston, one of the world’s most welcoming, warm and genuinely embracing cities, will share the anger, sorrow and confusion felt by the people of that great city.

As we know to our enormous cost, and might know again if the deluded and bewildered “dissident republicans” are not convinced of the error of their ways, terrorism is blind, irrational and, well, terrifying. That it invariably strikes at the innocent, the uninvolved and the plain unlucky adds another layer of injustice to this and all other terror outrages.

Ireland, despite considerable experience in this area, realises as well as any country that the natural response to an outrage like this is anger followed by a mute pain made all the sharper by incomprehension.

This morning, Boston and America are — once again — beginning that process, and though apprehending the terrorists is important, it is even more important that America realises that the attack was the work of a few deranged people. They should also realise that the thoughts of their friends are with them and use that small comfort to temper their response.