Danger Persists After Hobbling Of Al Qaeda: ‘…(A)uthorities in the United States and Europe remain deeply worried about the possibility of more terrorist attacks of smaller scope, either by al Qaeda itself or by sympathizers to bin Laden’s cause.

Even more alarming is the possibility that bin Laden and his closest associates may have preapproved another spectacular act of terrorism on the magnitude of the Sept. 11 hijackings, Bush administration officials said. At least a half-dozen alleged terrorist plots connected to al Qaeda have been unmasked since Sept. 11, including plans to blow up the U.S. Embassy in Paris and to attack U.S. interests in Singapore.’ Washington Post The article suggests that the dismantling of al Qaeda’s infrastructure in Afghanistan precludes another monumental act like the the Sept. 11th events. But, especially given that bin Laden appears to have eluded capture, on what basis should we have any confidence that we can detect clandestine communication to ‘sleeper’ cells biding their time with similar long-gestating plans in the US or elsewhere in the West?