Reply #23: I'm willing to believe in "plots," at least... [View All]

...just not Bruckheimerian actions like stopping the plot when the red LED clock says 0:00:02, which is practically what Washington's been claiming every other month since '01.

It's not like Osama's surviving boys are likely to have just been twiddling their thumbs for the past five years. They wouldn't be a threat at all if they didn't have at least some intelligence and initiative. It's the routine of "oh, we just stopped a horrendous attack at the last minute!" silliness that strikes me as contrived to say the least, especially when it's more or less out of the blue.

Also, on a more practical level, a lot of these "plots" would be foiled if the perps simply found out somehow that the target's aware of them. Some guys would be discussing (seriously or otherwise) a plan to do X to Y via Z, they'd get the feeling or indication that Y knew something was going on, and they'd start looking for other targets. Poke 'em enough, they'll either come out into the open (if they're stupid), or go to ground and stay there (which is likely what's actually happening). Or they'll continue publicly discussing their plans, in which case you get something like those dumbasses arrested in Toronto a few weeks ago.