Has terrorism become a joke?

That’s the sorrowful message currently at the homepage of Adult Swim, the Cartoon Network program whose inane show, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, set off a bomb scare in Boston with a guerrilla marketing campaign that involved using Lite Brite-like boxes attached to buildings. DARREN MCCOLLESTER/Getty Images News But the guys involved are sending a different ...

604329_apology_05.jpg
604329_apology_05.jpg

That's the sorrowful message currently at the homepage of Adult Swim, the Cartoon Network program whose inane show, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, set off a bomb scare in Boston with a guerrilla marketing campaign that involved using Lite Brite-like boxes attached to buildings.

That’s the sorrowful message currently at the homepage of Adult Swim, the Cartoon Network program whose inane show, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, set off a bomb scare in Boston with a guerrilla marketing campaign that involved using Lite Brite-like boxes attached to buildings.

DARREN MCCOLLESTER/Getty Images News

But the guys involved are sending a different message entirely through their behavior:

The two men accused of plunging metropolitan Boston into a panic with illuminated advertisements for a cartoon pleaded not guilty today in a courtroom packed with supporters and a crush of reporters.

The two men smiled broadly throughout much of the brief proceeding as Assistant Attorney General John Grossman described the battery-powered characters as “bomb-like devices.” The men, Peter Berdovsky, 27, and Sean Stevens, 28, face charges of placing a hoax device in a way that causes panic and disorderly conduct.

More from Foreign Policy

A photo illustration shows Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden posing on pedestals atop the bipolar world order, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and Russian President Vladamir Putin standing below on a gridded floor.
A photo illustration shows Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden posing on pedestals atop the bipolar world order, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and Russian President Vladamir Putin standing below on a gridded floor.

No, the World Is Not Multipolar

The idea of emerging power centers is popular but wrong—and could lead to serious policy mistakes.

A view from the cockpit shows backlit control panels and two pilots inside a KC-130J aerial refueler en route from Williamtown to Darwin as the sun sets on the horizon.
A view from the cockpit shows backlit control panels and two pilots inside a KC-130J aerial refueler en route from Williamtown to Darwin as the sun sets on the horizon.

America Prepares for a Pacific War With China It Doesn’t Want

Embedded with U.S. forces in the Pacific, I saw the dilemmas of deterrence firsthand.

The Chinese flag is raised during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics at Beijing National Stadium on Feb. 4, 2022.
The Chinese flag is raised during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics at Beijing National Stadium on Feb. 4, 2022.

America Can’t Stop China’s Rise

And it should stop trying.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky looks on prior a meeting with European Union leaders in Mariinsky Palace, in Kyiv, on June 16, 2022.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky looks on prior a meeting with European Union leaders in Mariinsky Palace, in Kyiv, on June 16, 2022.

The Morality of Ukraine’s War Is Very Murky

The ethical calculations are less clear than you might think.