Stupid Terrorists

I bought The Economist last week because they're a London based magazine, and I wanted to get their take on the Terrorist attacks. In the past when I've read the Economist, I've found it to be extremely intelligent, satisfying and insightful- not just about economics, but about politics, and society.

What the Economist said about the terrorist attacks was very interesting. The interviewed the former head of the counter terrorism team in Britain who that no one wins every time. When the counter terrorism team lucks out- no one gets killed and no one notices. When the terrorists luck out, people get killed and everyone notices. The terrorists keep on trying and the counter-terrorist team keeps on thwarting them- until the Seventh.

What the terrorists have on their side is the element of surprise- the counter terrorist team is always playing catch-up. What the counter terrorist team has on their side is that the terrorists and incompetent and stupid. Out of the hundreds of attempts at different plots, only 3 have succeeded. The rest have all been thwarted- including setting up SAMs along a flight path near LHR, trying to sneak bombs into the country, trying to recruit for Al Quaeda, etc...

I guess- people are just talking about how dangerous these terrorists are- they can't even coordinate an attack so their bombs go off at the right time, or at the planned place where the efficiency of the attack would be most devastating. They are clumsy and bumbling, and it's hard to be scared of something so stupid.