We quoted here yesterday a report that, with a recent change of government, the Bulgarians were now backtracking from their earlier assessment that Hezbollah stood behind the July 2012 terror attack on a busload of Israelis at Burgas airport. [See "10-Jun-13: Will appeasing Hezbollah work better now than it did with Nazi Germany?"]

Evidence of the retreat? See this Reuters report from last Wednesday for instance: “Bulgaria now says Hezbollah’s role in bus bombing unproven“. And the New York Times: “Bulgaria Pulls Back on Blame for Hezbollah“.

Now Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister Kristian Vigenin has clarified, in the wake of those reports of a retreat, that they are untrue and Reuters, the NYTimes and others have it wrong. Bulgaria has not reassessed its conclusion, he said [Sofia Globe]. Bulgaria continues to believe Hezbollah was behind the attack and responsible for the killings.

This is important because, as noted yesterday, the government of Ireland – along with Sweden, Finland and Italy – are shamefully blocking efforts by the UK, France and others to blacklist Hezbollah. (Ireland currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU.) Bulgaria carried out an extensive investigation over the past year into the terror bombing at their airport, and their view obviously carries weight.

A new Bulgarian government, led by the Bulgarian Socialist Party, the former Communists, took power a  week ago. The previous governing party, Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria, was regarded (says the NYT) as more attuned to the west. The previous government’s interior minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, said in February that the Bulgarians had identified, but not captured, two conspirators, one Canadian and one Australian, both Hezbollah members of Lebanese descent. The elaborate operation leading to the cowardly attack on tourists involved a remote detonator for the bomb and travel by the conspirators from Lebanon to Warsaw, Berlin and finally Bulgaria.

Bulgaria’s sensitive relations with the Islamic world and geolocation in the eastern Mediterranean are clearly part of the squeeze in which its leaders now find themselves.

But how – other than in the obvious way – do you justify the excessive ‘understanding’ of Hezbollah’s undisguised terrorism-driven bloodlust on the part of the Irish, the Finns and the Swedes? 

Incidentally, the Bulgarian reaffirmation of Hezbollah culpability first came in a note sent to – who else – the Irish ambassador six days ago. That was reported in a Bulgarian source [FOCUS, June 6, 2013] but got zero international coverage until today.

Visit This Ongoing War.

Iran’s construction of a research reactor that can produce plutonium for a nuclear weapon continues full steam, according to a UN report issued this week. And the UN International Atomic Energy Agency is now convinced that Iran has increased to a dangerous level its capacity to refine uranium, a prerequisite for constructing a bomb. And, according to the IAEA, the part of Parchin, a military site the agency insisted on inspecting, has now been paved over by the Iranians.

Obviously, the Iranians have a lot to hide, and they’re hiding it. When they finally let UN inspectors in, it would be after all traces of nuclear bomb-related research have been covered by asphalt.

Judging by what the Administration has been saying—that Iran is “advancing its enrichment program in blatant violation of its international obligations”—somebody is going to start a war over these facilities.

U.S. State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell told reporters that the UN report “marks an unfortunate milestone with regard to Iran’s illicit nuclear activities.”

Ventrell added that “despite more than a decade of dedicated effort on the part of the IAEA, Iran still has not provided the requisite cooperation with the IAEA for them to complete their investigation,” and that “we’re going to continue to hold Iran accountable for its international nuclear obligations.”

According to Reuters, the West is mostly concerned about Iran’s uranium enrichment plants at Natanz and Fordow. But experts suggest the research reactor being built outside the town of Arak could be used to produce plutonium for nuclear arms.

The IAEA says Iran is planning to commission that plant in the first quarter of 2014 and expects it to become operational in the third quarter.

The UN report seems to confirm—at least indirectly—Israeli claims that Iran could produce at will a nuclear weapon as early as this summer, and could certainly accumulate a stockpile of bombs next year.

Boston Marathon Suspect #1, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was caught on Friday night. He was hiding under the tarp of a boat in the backyard of a Watertown home. A local resident saw blood on the rope of the tarp covering his boat, in his backyard.

The owner called the police who evacuated the couple, and swarmed the yard.

There was an exchange of gunfire, but police managed to capture Suspect #1 alive.

His brother, Suspect #2, Tamerlan Tsarnaev Was killed earlier on Friday, in a shootout with police.

Boston was effectively locked down on Friday as police launched the largest manhunt in the cities history to find the terrorists who blew up the Boston Marathon, killing 3 people and wounding 170.

UPDATES BELOW

This article is being updated in realtime as information becomes available. 

Overview:

An MIT campus police officer was shot multiple times and killed on Thursday night. The shooting occurred around 10:30PM near Vasser and Main street (The Stata Building #32). The officer was taken to Massachusetts General, where he died of his wounds.

At 1:15 AM Boston time, there was an additional report of a carjacking, gunfire, and explosions, including grenades in Watertown, Boston. It is not clear if the two events are related.

Homeland security vehicles and heavily armed security personnel are in Watertown, according to  The Boston Channel.

Police are asking all people near MIT to stay indoors.

Police are currently searching for suspects. Police stay there are undetonated explosives in the area. They’ve asked people in the area  to turn off their cellphones due to fear of cellphone connected bombs.

Police are chasing after Mercedes SUV.

Updates: (Latest first)

8:24 AM Boston time - Dr. David Shoenfeld, a surgeon from Watertown went to Beth Israel hospital in early morning after hearing the shooting, and ended up as the doctor who treated the suspected terrorist who died. Suspects brother also ran him over.

8:11 AM Boston time – Suspects also have an older sister and brother.

8:01 AM Boston time Search may take hours. Entire city of Boston has been asked to stay indoors. Manhunt expanding.

7:52 AM Boston time Marathon bombers are believed to have arrived in the US with their family in 2002-2003

7:52 AM Boston time First suspect is ID’ed as Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 22 (dead)

7:40 AM Boston time - Suspects may be brothers.

7:28 AM Boston time – Suspects lived in Turkey and Kazakhstan before coming to US.

7:06 AM Boston time - Police say Suspects had paramilitary training.

 6:50 AM Boston time - AP reports that the name of second suspect identified as “Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev”, a  19 year old foreign national living in Cambridge, possibly from Chechnya.

5:55 AM Boston time - Police leaving the house.

5:54 AM Boston time - Police entering home on Dexter Street with guns drawn, when no response received in door to door search.

5:49 AM Boston time - Boston police lock down towns around Watertown. All business are to remain closed while manhunt for Suspect #2 continues.

5:45 AM Boston time - Boston public transit has been shut down as a safety measure.

5:37 AM Boston time - Watertown residents still locked down as police look for suspect #2

 4:17 AM Boston time - Live police conference reviewing the events of the evening. One policeman was seriously injured in the earlier shootout. Police warn residents to not open doors, and drivers to not let anyone into their cars.

4:04 AM Boston time - Boston Police Commissioner confirms that Boston Marathon Suspect #1 is Dead. Search is on for Suspect #2.

 3:59 AM Boston time - Boston TV reports that Marathon Suspect #1 is dead and suspect #2 is still at large.

3:58 AM Boston time - Police will be doing a series of controlled explosions. Air horn will blow before explosion to prepare residents.

3:04 AM Boston time - Unofficially police have told pedestrians in Watertown that there are  “explosive everywhere” including grenades.

3:02 AM Boston time - Police confirm that only 1 suspect is in custody in Watertown. They are examining connection to Marathon bombing.

2:57 AM Boston time - Police confirm that MIT and Watertown events are connected.

2:49 AM Boston time - Boston Globe says one Boston Marathon suspect is now in custody. Twitter feeds saying second suspect also captured. This has not yet been confirmed by the FBI or the police.

2:21 AM Boston time - Police still searching in Watertown, but the event seems to be winding down.

2:15 AM Boston time - Watertown residents still told to stay indoors.

2:05 AM Boston time - MIT tells faculty/student body that the campus is now safe.

1:58 AM Boston time - 3rd suspect has been released and is not a suspect.

1:56 AM Boston time - Bomb disposal robot onsite in Watertown.

1:51 AM Boston time - Boston Channel in talking to residents report that police spoke with a person who had been in the carjacked vehicle and got away from the carjackers.

1:44 AM Boston time - Police are currently arresting third suspicious person right now in Watertown.

1:43 AM Boston time - Residents report seeing a lightly injured policeman taken away by ambulance. Police are doing searches in the area.

1:37 AM Boston time - Residents in Watertown hear explosion from a controlled explosion.

1:34 AM Boston time - Police are still looking for an “active shooter”, but it is not clear where.

1:30 AM Boston time: Unconfirmed reports are that police now have 2 suspects in custody in Watertown, but it is not known if they are connected to the MIT shooting. One suspect has been taken to a hospital.

Police are questioning a Saudi Arabian national for the terrorist attack on the Boston Marathon that killed at least three people, one of them an eight-year-old boy, and wounded 140 others Monday. More than a dozen are in critical condition, an indication that the death toll may rise. The bombs were packed with ball bearings, designed to cause maximum physical damage. Victims lost dozens of limbs in the twin bombings.

The suspect is 20 years old, in the United States on a students’ visa, and is under guard at the Boston hospital where he is being treated for severe burns. He was detained approximately two hours after the bombing at the finish line. CBS News reported that Boston police have  a video of a man bringing multiple backpacks to the location of the blast.

Boston police Tuesday morning searched an apartment in a Boston suburb as part of the investigation.

However, Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis insisted,  “There is no suspect. There are people we’re talking to.”

President Barack Obama was unable to utter the word “terror” in his initial reaction to the bombings, as if doing so would be an admission that the United States is so secure that it is unthinkable that terrorists could operate in the country.

Sometimes it seems the government wears a proud suit of armor in la-la land, re-living a 1950s cover of the Saturday Evening Post, an exterior that lulls people into thinking that there are no rotten apples in the American pie.

The president indeed had to be careful not label the attack “terror” before being sure. “We still do not know who did this or why. And people shouldn’t jump to conclusions before we have all the facts,” Obama said. “But make no mistake, we will get to the bottom of this, and we will find out who did this; we’ll find out why they did this.”

It will take a thorough investigation to find out what ever every person not in a State Dept. straight jacket knows – the terrorist or terrorists who carried out the attack want to destroy the United States.

The White House later stated that the attack was “an act of terror.” It took an hour to put aside the possibility that a mentally ill person blew up peoples; limbs. It too an hour to discard the original report that a gas line had accidentally burst.

American media, remaining politically correct not to insult Islam and inflame Muslim anger, God forbid,  have not reminded citizens that Saudi Arabian radical Islamic fundamentalists were involved in the 9/11 attacks.

A total of five bombs were found in the Boston area, including one that exploded at the John F. Kennedy library, causing no injuries.

The timing of the attack, coincidental or not with “Patriot’s Day,” underlines the motives of the international terrorist campaign against the non-Muslim West.

But the official thinking, such it is called, is that everything is just fine while Rome, make that Washington, is burning.

”Federal officials tonight say there is no reason to think that this is part of any larger threat,” NBC reported. “At this point they believe it is confined to Boston, but a meeting tonight will decide whether any kind of national alert will be sent out.”

Tactically, the attack very likely was not part of a “larger threat”, just an “isolated” incident, just like the 1993 bomb in the basement of the World Trade Center, killing six people and wounding more than 1,000 others;

And just like the “isolated incident” in Oklahoma Cavity in 1995, when a car bomb killed 168 people;

And just like the 9/11 attacks; and just like the 2012 car bomb that was discovered in Times Square but failed to detonate’

And just like the isolated bombs placed in 2010 on two cargo planes bound from Yemen to the United States;

And just like the 2011 pipe bomb that was discovered along the route of the Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial march in Spokane, Wash.

Officials are well aware that there is a worldwide of terror. They know very well that the attacks on the Boston Marathon are not “isolated” incidents.

But it is more important for officials, from the president on down, to maintain a mood of calm, to show Americans they are in control.

But they aren’t.

An Israel passenger trying to board a domestic flight at Newark International Airport was arrested Sunday morning for falsely claiming a bomb was in his suitcase, which was loaded on his flight even though he had been bumped.

In a separate incident, another man was arrested at the airport for inexplicably claiming a bomb was in his shoe. He may though he was being funny, but security authorities thought otherwise and arrested him.

The Israeli man, 44-year-old Eran Hess from Tel Aviv, was not trying to be funny. He was furious.

After he was told by United Airlines that there was no room for him and his family on their connecting flight to Miami, even though his luggage had been loaded, he apparently thought that he could recover his family’s suitcases with a bomb threat.

“He had left the area by the time our cops got there, so they tracked him down in Terminal A, where he was trying to get on an American Airlines flight to Miami,” said Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey told the New Jersey Star Ledger’s website.

He was charged with creating a false public alarm.

David Castelveter, a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration, told the website that passengers were taken off the plane while bags were unloaded and rescreened.

The other arrest involved a New Jersey resident shoe-bomb hoax shut down the airport checkpoint for seven minutes.

On Monday evening, a suspicious object was noticed on the road leading to the northern entrance of Efrat, in Gush Etzion.

Upon further investigation is was discovered that a fake bomb had been planted on the road.