Editorial: May 13, 1985, What's important about this date?

It was the first time authorities in the U.S. dropped a bomb on American citizens.

This morning I first read a headline about heavy Drone attacks in Northern Pakistan and apart from feeling the usual uneasiness about our two/three wars, decided to pass on the article. Then I saw the headline, "Philly Neighborhood Scars Unhealed From 1985 Bomb." (today's Times)

Basically, the Philadelphia Police evacuated a neighborhood and dropped a large pack of explosives on a house containing members of a group called MOVE. The resulting fallout was deadly. 5 children were killed as well as 6 adult members of the group, two members survived with extensive burns. What's more, the entire block was ravaged by the resulting fire and residents, who were told only to take a change of clothes with them, lost all of their possessions...all of them.

MOVE was a movement in the Philadelphia area that tangled with authorities regularly. Wherever they set up shop, they would fortify a large house - bunkers, loudspeakers, armed guards, etc. - and generally raise hell in whatever neighborhood they occupied. Residents first tried to address the issue of sharing the street with this group by approaching them directly but when that yielded nothing, went to authorities. Authorities responded by getting a warrant, evacuating houses on the street and then dropped a huge bag of explosives on the house.

Since the siege, the city has spent more than $43 million to try to fix the razed houses and return the street to habitable conditions. This has not occurred and now, save a few stunningly tough and stubborn folks, the block is largely vacant and boarded up. It turns out that the new houses built by the city had leaky roofs, faulty wiring and a host of other issues. Many residents took the buy-outs the city offered, but not all. (sound like the contractors reaping millions to rebuild Iraq to anyone?)

There are a lot of lessons to learn from this awful story. To me, the most important takeaway is the perspective this now raises when I read a headline about heavy drone attacks.