Bomb must not spoil Olympics

At the heart of the Olympics' appeal is the quixotic ideal of international brotherhood. The games are supposed to be a celebration of human potential. A time to put behind us for 16 days the political rivalries, ethnic divisions and economic realities that dominate the world and our lives.

In ancient Greece, they claim, even wars were halted so the games could proceed. But in the modern era, it seems that to the games' motto of "fastest, highest, strongest" -- we must all too often add "basest" as well.

Saturday's terrorist attack was just one more example of the cynical world catching up with us when we look to the sky and lower our guard. The pipe bomb in Atlanta's Centennial Park which killed two people and injured more than 100 appears to have been the work of a single person.

FBI experts have said their most likely suspect is an angry or troubled loner, who turned his resentment against Olympics athletes and spectators, whom he perceived as privileged or foreigners.

The bombing, at an open-air rock concert, has been likened to a deadly extension of an angry adolescent throwing rocks from the sidelines. The presence of nails and screws in the crude pipe bomb, designed to cause even greater injury as shrapnel, tends to bolster that view.

Law enforcement officials suggested international terrorists would normally use more sophisticated weapons and networks.

Unfortunately, it has become a part of modern life and short of living on a war footing and surrendering rights to privacy, there is little that can be done to effectively stamp it out.

The decision to carry on with the games was the right one. Terror must be shown an indifferent face and not allowed to cower us. The games must go on, and along with Olympic flame, that quixotic ideal kept alive.

-- The Nation, Bangkok