Ahh.. the plots continue..
A London Court has heard testimony, that while he had not recieved funding or meterials, he had plotted with al Q'Aeda officials, Former Hindu Dhiren Barot, 34, from London, plotted "massive explosions" in the US and UK, aiming to kill hundreds.
Barot, who last month admitted conspiracy to murder, wanted to pack limousines with gas cylinders and also use a radioactive "dirty" bomb.
The court was told, Barot had been planning 11 September-style synchronised attacks in Britain, which could have involved a dirty bomb and a gas attack on the Heathrow Express train service.
He had also plotted to detonate a bomb under the River Thames to flood the Tube network and potentially drown hundreds of commuters.
Other targets in Britain had included the Savoy hotel and mainline train stations, Waterloo, Paddington and King's Cross, and Barot also planned to strike the IMF and the World Bank in Washington DC.. the New York Stock Exchange building and the Citigroup headquarters, as well as the Prudential building in Newark, New Jersey, were also among his targets.
Now, what is concerning is, that since Saddam's death sentence, there will be a flood of volunteers worldwide, waiting for the money and the means to carry out plans, detailed and merely shelved, for years.
The money is certainly there. We can only wait.
As for the Bush Administration, whether or not it becomes a 'lame duck' will soon be seen.. whether Americans have had enough of this war, and harbour the sentiment that removing Congress from Republican control will be enough to calm the seething resentment in the minds of the various terrorists who demonize the American man on the street and his way of life, will soon be obvious.
But the problem remains, that while the US may well in the near future do a 180 on it's policies in the Middle East, it can be assured the Middle East will not reciprocate. A dramatic defeat for George and the Republicans will certainly be seen as a sign of weakness, of indicision.
This election in the US is a lose/lose situation, and to make the job of mopping up what can be cleared from Iraq more difficult for the Administration, will be seen by the Islamic Fundamentalist world as a repeat of the American action in the area back in the 90's.
It also leaves the Taliban, al Q'aeda, Hammas, Hezbolah, with something tangible to celebrate, and will certainly spur them onwards towards their goal of a Worldwide Islamic Caliphate.
Seems a ridiculous aim now, but recall, their plans span decades.
Never underestimate a fundamentalist.