Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

The bombing plot broken up by Scotland Yard was classic Al Qaida. It was going to be big, flashy, terrorizing. It wasn't like those sad jokes the American government claims to have broken up. This one had potential. If successful, it would have been horrible. The thing people forget about Al Qaida is that they are pretty much a one-trick pony. Al Qaida has never displayed any skill at multi-tasking or the tactical feign. They plot an operation. If it works, it works; if it doesn't they have shot their load. They never have a backup plan. The world is never safer than after an Al Qaida plot has fizzled.

No. Be afraid. Be very afraid. ~ Veronica Quaife (Geena Davis), The Fly

The British, with the help of the Pakistanis, stopped a serious plot. Good on 'em. All the fear mongering that is following has nothing to do about security and is all about political manipulation. The Bush Administration is going to resort to their favorite practice of spreading terror. For the next two months, our government will do all it can to scare us. Bush will continue to preserve Al Qaida and refrain from attacking them because he needs them as the focus of the fear he wants to spread.

Al Qaida, like the Irish Republican Army, the Red Army Faction, and the Ku Klux Klan before them, deserve a watchful defense. But, only a craven coward would be afraid of them.