Threat Thwarted?

Threat Thwarted? say that 10 times quickly. We've become so cynical (and for good reason) that even reports which may well be completely factual elicit a wait-and-see response. So... I'll wait and see if these reports out of Britain are as significant as they appear before commenting but Bush's comments deserve an immediate response... sort of like a gag-reflex.

Bush claims that the arrest of these alleged plotters somehow vindicates his so-called GWOT. I don't see how the invasion and occupation of a country with no links to the 9/11 terrorist attack had anything to do with his so-called War On Terror and I certainly don't see the connection to this bust in England. There was no war in this action... no tanks, no planes, no bombs and violations of the law. Hell, there wasn't even any killing! No, it seems like it was a matter of good old fashioned police work, an appropriate response to criminal activity. The kind of thing Kerry advocated and for which he was crucified by Bush/Cheney during the election campaign of 2004.

However, according to Ivo Daalder at TPMCafe:

What appears to have cracked this case is not a war strategy or military offensive, but good intelligence, skilled detective work, and months of careful surveillance --— the kind of traditional law enforcement strategies and defensive measures that Bush and his administration have always shunned.

Digby has an interesting article for conspiracy theorists (which doesn't even require any tin-foil) in which he asks:

I know it's absurd to think that the Bush administration cynically uses the threat of terrorism for political gain and that by being suspicious of such a thing I'm unserious about national security. But this is getting ridiculous ...