STRIKE THREE? “A bomb-sniffing dog in Ankara helped Turkish authorities stop a massive terrorist attack on the anniversary of 9/11. A van full of explosives in a parking garage would have devastated the center of the large city, and it would have served as a counterpoint to the messages released by Osama bin Laden in the past week. . . . This would make three terrorist attacks thwarted in the past week.”

For the moment, the security services seem to have the advantage. This is in part because Al Qaeda has experienced serious attrition in recent years, and in part because the surveillance seems to have gotten better. The emphasis, however, should be on the phrase “for the moment.”