Whenever a terror attempt fails - the immediate debate divides into two opposing beliefs: one that makes sense, and one that's just plain nuts.
The sensible one is that terrorism is our biggest threat, and we must eliminate it completely.
The nutty one is that the terror threat has been exaggerated. And we're dealing with incompetents. Worse, our overblown reaction has done more harm than good.
But does it matter who is right? As a government, you must protect your citizens, regardless.
Look at it this way:
-If the terror is real, then you continue destroying all terror cells. And, if possible, take out Sean Penn's camper as collateral damage. If the threat turns out to be exaggerated, you lose nothing, except some time spent at airport security, and maybe your shampoo.
-If the second idiotic belief is right, and there is no terror threat, then you relax security measures and reduce assaults on terror cells. But, here's the deal: if your instincts are wrong, you end up with many thousands of US citizens dead. That's not a good thing, even if you're Rosie O'Donnell.
So the only solution to the terror problem - regardless of how large or small you believe the threat to be - is to relentlessly capture and kill terrorists and remove every speck of al qaeda from this planet.
That, and deporting Danny Glover to Venezuela.
