The normally sober Associated Press chose the headline, "Analysis: Plot may have been 9/11 sequel." Let the speculation games begin.

The news report went on to cite "terrorism experts":

"In terms of scale, it was probably designed to be ... a new Sept. 11," said Jean-Charles Brisard, a French private investigator who works with lawyers of many Sept. 11 victims. "It involved the same tools, the same transportation tools and devices."

Rohan Gunaratna, a terrorism expert at Singapore's Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies, said everything known so far points to involvement by Osama bin Laden's terror group.

"It is a classic al-Qaida tactic. It is a hallmark of al-Qaida to carry out coordinated, simultaneous attacks and the aviation domain is certainly known to al-Qaida," he said.

I love the last quote best -- carrying out "coordinated, simultaneous attacks" in the "aviation domain" is only something Al Qaeda could do. Others prefer uncoordinated, random attacks on land or sea. It's like Al Qaeda is a recognizable brand or something.

I've read these early reports. I think it is safe to say that there is much more we do not know about this than we do know. Though the media get more worked up than a little caffeinated kid on Christmas Eve, it should let some of the facts come forward before declaring this the next September 11. It's too bad the forces of spin appear out of control already.

This is not to deny that some people wish great harm on innocent civilians in the UK and the US. They see this, wrongfully, as a just response to the great harms the UK and the US inflict upon others in the world.

Acts of violence against civilian populations have no transformative effects. This is the strategy of the weak, and is doomed to fail. Power, this day and age, is institutional. Al Qaeda cells and wannabees would better contribute to their cause if they built up their home countries or started new institutions in the host countries.

Either way, I am glad no airplane travellers were killed today by political violence (unlike Palestinians, Iraqis, Afghans, Israelis, and Lebanese). They only suffered long lines and inconvenience (still nothing compared to those living under occupation).

While Arabs and Muslims have an obligation to become empowered, to strengthen the alternatives to such violence, Americans, Israelis and Britons would be well-advised to push for humane and fair foreign policies. You can't oppress your cake and eat it too. In other words, you want cheap oil, control of the Middle East and to hold on to stolen land. Fine. You can't expect your victims and their allies to like you, too.

With Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan and Lebanon under total onslaught from the American alliance, the resentment is bound to manifest in violent forms. We all have to work to end the state-sponsored violence that makes the war on terror an agenda despised by masses around the world. Arabs and Muslims must build effective alternatives and push to reform internally and externally, the western countries. Then, groups like Al Qaeda and its copycats will fall into irrelevance.

Right now, the Bush-Blair-Olmert axis of oppression is what gives anti-western violence its fuel. Al Qaeda and this axis vibe off each other. Good people of the world need to repel both.

 Source: kabobfest.blogspot.com 

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