An attack against foreign interests or seemingly foreign interests often arouses suspicion that an organized al-Qaeda -like presence is behind it. However, terrorism comes in shades of gray, and sometimes it is difficult to discern the motivations behind attacks except to say that there are a lot of disgruntled people who may have political motivations but are not necessarily part of an organized conspiracy. Fortunately, a bomb attack against the Turkish-American Friendship Association in Adana, Turkey did not kill anyone, although several people were injured. The fact that this was a Turkish-American Association and that it is located in Adana, home to the Incirlik air base used by NATO forces, probably means that it was a deliberate attack against US interests.

Leftist guerrillas, Kurdish rebels, and Islamists could all be suspects. A Friendship Society is an attractive, softer target than the well-protected air base. US personnel probably also take security precautions while Turkish citizens probably do not. However, a man was seen placing a bomb and running away. Had this been an al-Qaeda-network operation, it is likely that something like a suicide or truck bomb (as was seen in the dual November 2003 attacks: Terrorist Incident and Terrorist Incident) might have been used, rather than a lone operator who ran way. This attack is not that dissimilar to a June 2003 attack when a Turkish man hurled hand grenades at the US Consulate in Adana because he was upset with Israel. Motivation for the recent attack could be for anything, including displaced anger. This could range from the current uproar over the Danish cartoons (see this WAR Report), the recent US targeting of terrorists in Pakistan, or general US policy.

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