They ain't COBRA

I probably don't have to say this to the readers here, but, there's been so much "hit them back!" rhetoric in the wake of the London bombings that I can't help it...

Al-Qaeda isn't COBRA from the old G.I. Joe cartoons. There is no hooded Cobra Commander, giving orders to Destro and there's no "Terrordome" we can hit to just put a stop to everything.

It's far more complicated than that.

On one hand, there is, still an Al-Qaeda organization led by Osama bin Laden and there are probably people moving money around and training operatives, though most of that group's energies are probably spent on keeping OBL in hiding, feeding themselves, and not being capured in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tibet, or wherever they are.

More dangerous -- there are probably a bunch of people planning attacks on their own, using the name "Al-Qaeda" for its fear inducing and headline grabbing power, but who wouldn't be able to get in contact with bin Laden, or any of his top guys, even if they tried. They might well know a lot about him, they might believe everything he does, but they're on their own.

That's not to lessen the threat. Timothy McVeigh, on his own, killed 300 people in one attack. But, you deal with that by arresting Timothy McVeigh and having a trial, not by bombing Iran.

Put it this way -- if I assembled 5 or 10 people and started knocking over liquor stores in Brooklyn and demanding protection money from the local yoga studios, I could call myself "The Mafia." But, it wouldn't really be so.

No, no, I'm not considering a new line of work.