AL QAEDA SPEAKS AGAIN, BUT WILL WE LISTEN? – AT 9:10 P.M. ET: 

Printer bombs planted on two cargo flights last month cost only a few thousand dollars and were intended to affect the American economy, according to a newly published Al Qaeda-affiliated magazine.

The attempt was called "Operation Hemorrhage," boasted the magazine, and the entire plot cost al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, only $4,200.

Yesterday, a special edition of Inspire magazine -- an English-language propaganda publication produced by AQAP -- gave a detailed description of how the attempted attack was conceived and produced.

"Two Nokia mobiles, $150 each, two HP printers, $300 each, plus shipping, transportation and other miscellaneous expenses add up to a total bill of $4,200," one article said. "That is all that Operation Hemorrhage cost us. In terms of time, it took us three months to plan and execute the operation from beginning to end."

The magazine also revealed the attack was not meant to kill more than the plane's pilot and co-pilot, and was meant to force the U.S. government to spend billions of dollars on preventive security screening measures.

The strategy, the magazine said, was "of attacking the enemy with smaller, but more frequent operations is what some may refer to as the strategy of a thousand cuts. The aim is to bleed the enemy to death."

COMMENT: Some of this may be bravado, but it makes sense.  AQAP may not be capable of a 9-11 type attack, but it is capable of the "thousand cuts."  And of course they are right.  If several of these attacks succeed, we will have to ramp up security, if only to satisfy public demand. 

And what if attacks are conducted in shopping malls?  Aboard trains and buses? 

Israel responded to attacks like that by building a security fence, and it worked.  We aren't even serious about securing our southern border, which could easily be used to transport small bombs.

Our enemies can't fail forever.

November 21, 2010