* They may be the most telling eight words ever spoken. They are Manchester bomber Salman Abedi’s last words–in his goodbye call to his mother in Libya. “Please forgive me for anything I did wrong.”
“Forgive” the unassailably unforgiveable? “Wrong”? This isn’t forgetting your mother’s birthday. This isn’t writing a bad check. This is an unconscionably heinous, barbaric, evil act that disqualifies one from human classification. Wrong? This says chilling volumes about who and what the civilized world confronts.
* A little-known facet of Islamic terrorism: Sometimes there is a backup terrorist–with a remote detonator–involved. Just in case the sacrificial volunteer-terrorist chickens out. They sometimes do. Brutal. Not even the prospect of a 72-virgin consolation prize.