# Posted 10:42 AM by Patrick Belton  

THE DAY AFTER: The Washington Post places yesterday's attack on the U.N. in historical context - except there've been few such attacks on senior U.N. personnel, and hardly any attacks of such significance against U.N. installations in the organization's history. A senior U.N. Middle East mediator, Count Folke Bernadotte, was assassinated by the Stern group on September 17, 1948. (Bernadotte had advocated the disarmament of Jerusalem and the Palestinian right of return. The event led to the outlawing of the Stern organization by Israel, although the suspects in the murder were granted general amnesty on February 14, 1949.) (CNN covers past attacks on UN mission personnel, as well, and agrees that this attack against UN staff is unprecedented in magnitude.) The Post also memorializes the slain diplomat, Sergio Vieira de Mello. The NYT assesses the military munitions used in the attack. The UK press points to reports of thousands of Saudi militants crossing into Iraq (Scotsman), and suggests the coalition had done an insufficient job to protect the UN building (The Times). (And even the Guardian is calling for some sanity over the unfolding dossier brouhaha, saying the dossier's importance in Britain's decision to go to war has been far overrated, and the real reasons for entry into the war were a mixture of arguments, some good and some bad; the Guardian bemoans only the lack of a UN resolution.) (Fortunately, Fisk's Independent article saying the attack "underlines America's crumbling authority and shows it can guarantee the safety of no one" is pay-for-view, so many of you will be spared the pain of reading it.)

In Israel, Abu Mazen is attempting to salvage the peace process by cutting off all contacts with Islamist militant leaders and ordered the arrest by Palestinian security services of the perpretators of yesterday's bombing. Wounded, the usually pro-road map Ha'aretz runs pieces this morning on the failure of hudna, the government's impotence in dealing with terror, and proclaiming there is no right of return. Forced into a greater prudence, however, Israel's policy arms are holding off on a massive military response, permitting Abu Mazen some time to act against the perpetrators first.

In the blogosphere, Glenn links to a NY Post piece wondering whether the UN will take a stand against terror or retreat and take refuge in the comforts of anti-americanism; the Post piece concludes by saying "the lesson the U.N. must take away is that no one can be neutral in the struggle with evil." Salam Pax was there shortly after, and contributes a first-hand account. Matthew Yglesias urges caution in attributing the attack too quickly to Ba'athists or Islamic militants, and thus to drawing overly hasty conclusions from it. Dan Drezner suggests that in pushing the US and UN closer to one another (contra Fisk above), the attackers are tactically inept as well as morally nihilistic. Josh Marshall reflects on the images of the attack. Volokh's David Bernstein attempts to plot out a way forward from here, with effective PA action against Al-Aqsa and Hamas, and Israeli pulling back of settlers. (Bernstein's pragmatism and dedication to principle is touching, as his girlfriend, a U.S. official, was mere yards away from the bombing of the bus).

Slate reviews some of the press coverage of yesterday's bombings, noting that NYT did its best to keep them distinct, while USA Today and several others conflated them as one attack. As regards the culprit, attention is focusing principally on Ansar al-Islam (see profiles of the organization here, here, and here).

Other losses in yesterday's attack include the U.N.'s chief Arabist, Rick Hooper, roughly twenty members of Mr. Vieira de Mello's staff and other offices, and five members of the World Bank staff. In the think tank family, CFR's Arthur Helton was scheduled to meet with Mr. Vieira de Mello at the time of the bombing, and is missing. (0) opinions -- Add your opinion