Just in Time: The Foiled London Terror Plot

London (TLS). Due to some astute observation and quick thinking on the part of a rescue unit in London, a crowded area of the city's central district was spared a terrorist attack that would have killed hundreds of people.

The rescue team, which had responded to another call, noticed a strange and unusual cloud of smoke rising from one of the vehicles later identified as containing homemade bombs. The team quickly called police.

Apparently the bombs were within minutes of being detonated when the rescue team noticed the unusual steam rising from the Mercedes.

Two things immediately come to mind concerning this incident. One, government intelligence and surveillance are not enough to protect citizens and entire populations from terrorism. Two, ordinary citizens who value their own lives and those of others, and who value their hard-fought liberties, are of utmost importance in fighting the war on terror.

It was not law enforcement or government intelligence agencies that thwarted this particular attack.

Had those astute rescue workers not been hyper-vigilant, then an entire sector of London would have been completely destroyed, killing hundreds of persons in the process.

The presence of terrorism in the world requires hyper-vigilance on the part of ordinary citizens who are going about their daily lives. Terrorists are becoming more adept, post 9/11, at being inconspicuous, blending in with the rest of society.

For example, the would-be London terrorists were driving a Mercedes and not a truck. The sector of town they had targeted, the Piccadilly Circus and surrounding area, is an upscale section with plush and hip nightclubs that appeal to the upper crust.

Sources inside the FBI, the CIA, and other counterterrorism organizations believe that terrorists presently mingle among us as Americans--all with fairly effective anonymity. One of the reasons for this effectiveness is our sloth. We have lulled ourselves back to sleep concerning terrorism because we have not had a successful attack since 2001.

And this is in spite of the numerous foiled plots that have been made public.

It certainly doesn't help matters when members of the Democratic Party's extremist leftwing lunatic fringe incessantly refer to reports of such thwarted attacks as 'fear-mongering.'

Yet Americans don't seem to wish to be bothered with hyper-vigilance. This must change. To continue on the present course is a deadly game of Russian roulette.