(Thumbnail image: The Christian Science Monitor)

Mayor Michael Bloomberg: "It certainly could've exploded and had a pretty big fire, and a decent amount of explosive impact." (WABC-TV)
 
New York City's Times Square was shut down late Saturday night as police removed an improvised car bomb from one of the busiest intersections in the world.

The Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for planting the device, but U.S. officials haven't confirmed that yet. The group says the bomb is revenge for the deaths of two Islamic leaders in Iraq. The bomb didn't explode and no one was hurt.

On NBC's "Meet the Press," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano called the incident an attempted act of terrorism.
 
Napolitano: "Every responsible examination is being done, not only of the device, but also of the forensics."

Gregory: "An act of terrorism?"

Napolitano: "It certainly looks that way, it certainly looks as if it was intended to be that way."
 
Many are calling the man who tipped off police to the bomb a hero. T-shirt vendor and Vietnam Veteran Lance Orten saw smoke coming out of the vehicle and called the NYPD.  He gave only the briefest of statements to a hoard of reporters.

Reporters: "To the people of New York, Lance, what do you want them to know? Your message, Lance, to the people of New York?"

Orten: "If you see something, say something."

Most reports labeled the explosive device as "amateur," so just how bad could an explosion have been? Different reports gave different opinions. On MSNBC, a terrorism expert says the device lacked so many critical components that you can barely even call it a bomb.
 
"The car bombs in Iraq or Afghanistan might have a propane tank, but they also have an explosive. There's usually a discarded bomb. There's ex-military munitions. There's actually an explosive component, and propane tanks are there to accentuate what's going on. In this case there was no explosive. This was simply meant to achieve a fireball."

But on CNN, an analyst said even though the bomb was built of common household items, it was still built well enough that it could cause some damage.

"There's nothing there that no one couldn't pick up, it's the ability to put it together and create the bomb is where the sophistication occurred. It may be amateurish, as the mayor said, but it was sophisticated enough that it had an intent, and the intent was to do harm."

Investigators are making headway: They've found fingerprints and hair inside the car and have traced the vehicle's license plates. One observer remarked he wouldn't be surprised if an arrest were made within hours.