Captain's Quarters: London Bombers were the B-Team

Captain Ed has the scoop:

According to ABC News, British intelligence thought they had stopped the coordinated attack on the London subway and bus system when they first discovered the plot -- when Pakistani officials arrested al-Qaeda computer expert Naeem Noor Khan a year ago this week. His laptop contained a remarkably similar plan for the attack, and the British arrested a "senior" AQ operative at the time...

The terrorists don't like to abandon plans once they've been developed, it seems. In this case, investigators suspect that AQ leadership activated a new cell to carry out the plan. In order to get the plans and the coordination transferred, it used one of its operatives that escaped the dragnet touched off by Khan's capture to train and guide the suicide bombers. Mohammed Sadique Khan had ties to the former group, they have found, which puts his involvement in this operation past the threshold of coincidence.

Something to think about next time we feel like patting one another on the back for cracking open a terrorist cell. Is there a backup cell? Is there a backup backup cell?

The more we learn about just how preventable these attacks were, the more frustrated and angry we feel, and should feel, about this situation. Pressure and frustration keeps building up on this. A frustrated populace can be a very scary thing. Another Islamic attack on the U.S. has the potential to bring a drastic political backlash, vigilantism or both. None of these would be good.

Muslims, you need to clean your house, and soon.