AMATEURS

Apparently desperate for a way to represent the London attacks in a way that will reflect well on President Bush, Cliff May writes (in reference to this NY Times article):

Investigators now think that the attacks were carried out by homegrown extremists using low-tech explosive devices.

The attacks of 9/11/01 were highly sophisticated and killed thousands. The attacks of 3/11/04 in Madrid were somewhat less sophisticated and killed hundreds. The attacks of 7/705 appear to have been the work of amateurs and killed dozens.

Anyone see a pattern here?

And so much for the theory (contained in a recently leaked CIA “assessment”) that the battlefields of Iraq are turning out the most highly skilled terrorists ever (while our forces, presumably, learn nothing).

This is spinning of the highest order. First, if the London attacks were orchestrated by amateurs, as now looks likely, this of course in no way affects, let alone disproves, the CIA's assessment that Iraq has become a fertile training ground for Islamist militants. The salient point of the CIA report is that Iraq-trained militants will return to their home countries and provide counter-weight to President Bush's Middle East reform agenda.

Second, yes, I do see a pattern here. I see two. I see the increasing democratization of deadly force. And I see the continued willingness of conservatives like Cliff May to brazenly spin any and every event as a vindication of Bush policy.