Counter Poised

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Mahfouz al-Bedawi slowly made his way under the midday sun to the middle of the National Mall. Al-Bedawi was an angry young man. Ahead of him, concealed in a cart labeled “Ice Cream,” he pushed a bomb. Tourist season was in full swing in Washington DC, so no one thought twice about the presence of an ice-cream vendor on the mall.

Sweat ran down al-Bedawi’s brow as he pushed the large, heavy cart to the middle of the mall. It was warmer than normal for spring, although not the kind of hot and sticky day Washington DC was known for during the summer — when your clothes stuck to your skin like flypaper. Al-Bedawi surveyed the area around him. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom around the Tidal Basin, and tourists were lined up at the White House and the Washington Monument, just feet away from his bomb. Along one side of the mall, he could see a line of school buses carrying students on field trips to the National Museum of Natural History and the National Gallery of Art. On the other side, a steady stream of visitors went in and out of the Smithsonian Institution Building and the National Air and Space Museum. He heard cheering behind him and turned to see a soccer match being played on the grounds next to the Reflecting Pool.

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