Knew About It For Years, They Did

Old Karl wants to make "national security the pre-eminent issue [for the] 2006" elections. Great. Explain this to us then, Karl. You guys knew about liquid bombs for years, but didn't do anything? Nice. NYTimes (08.12.06), via Josh Marshall:

"The most frightening thing about the foiled plot to use liquid explosives to blow up airplanes over the Atlantic is that both the government and the aviation industry have been aware of the liquid bomb threat for years but have done little to prepare for it. What saved everyone was apparently superb intelligence work by the British, who apprehended the terrorists before they could carry out their scheme." The Liquid Bomb Threat

In fact, back in 1995, "a plot to bomb 12 American jumbo jets over the Pacific with a liquid explosive was discovered when the bomb makers accidentally set fire to their laboratory in Manila. Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, who was also involved in the World Trade Center truck bombing in 1993, was convicted in that case." Luckily the British were paying attention, eh? Luckily the British were competent too.