Thanks for your excellent article, Matthew. I wonder if Ayman Al Zawahiri's recent finger-wagging threat of a "precise response" to Sir Salman's deserved honour was in fact recorded in his cave a few weeks ago. In which case, we've already suffered the "precise response" in the Glasgow/ London attempts you have so effectively mocked.

William, London,

Call the terrorists "silly" all you like. Car bombs may seem silly, but they *do* regularly kill a lot of people in Iraq and Thailand and elsewhere. If Mr. Parris really thinks that technology cannot come to the UK, he really needs to pay closer attention.

As for "sympathy" to President Bush -- Mr. Parris has it exactly backward. Terrorists thrive on weakness, and the West's irresolute and weak manner has only encouraged the bad guys to cause more mayhem the world over.

Isaiah Cox, London,

Vivienne, yes some did. But the fact remains they still made something go bang even if it was themselves. It's also worth noting that people who are trained prfessionals in the use of explosives in the armed forces have also blown themselves up. Explosives remain dangerous to use whoever you are or how competent you may be.

Bob, Halesowen, UK

On the 11th of Jan 2003 Matthew wrote about the hysteria in the media caused by some "pathetic squeak" who managed a synthesis (that "any half-wit...can do") of ricin in his kitchen. He speculated, probably correctly, that a British-born terrorist is attracted by the media's portrayal of glamorous, fiendishly "cool" terrorists and, motivated by resentment for the repression of his poor childhood as a second-generation migrant to the UK, he makes the quantum leap in reasoning and decides to join. As in this article, Matthew (correctly) degraded the intelligence of these terrorists and emphasized their docile impressionability. I agree with Matthew on every point he makes usually and I pity the misguided youth, but Matthew could say something very similar about most Westerners and indeed many of my fellow commentators.

Kevin Johansen, San Francisco, California

Hello Bob of Halesowen. Don't I remember lots of cases of IRA bombers blowing themselves up due to sheer incompetency?

Vivienne, Colchester, UK

Jackpine Savage, USA wrote:
"I suggest you do a little research. I personally know that cylinders can explode, I watched 3 of them blow up in my garage a few years ago in a house fire."

Isn't that carrying research a little too far?

Mike Bibby, St Albans, England -not EU

What is to stop the expertise they have in using car bombs in Iraq being exported to Britain? And Madrid and Bali were hardly failures were they?

Paul, B'ham, UK

He has a point. When the IRA were setting off bombs left right and centre you could be sure that they were going to explode and be devastating every time and more than likely achieve what they set out to do. The jihadis by comparison look far from competent in this respect.

Also while on the subject could our American cousins stop lecturing us on terrorism, we have long experience dealing with it, far more than you do, except of course the financing of it. Just out of interest when are Noraid donors going to Guantanamo Bay.

Bob, Halesowen, UK

So Matthew Parris and quite a few other conspiracy theorists on this thread think that we have more to fear from our own government along with that of the democratic USA than from Islamist terrorists? No wonder these Moslem fanatics think that this is the time to strike at the West. And to all these people who criticise our governements for trying to secure our access to oil, how would they like to live in a society in which they could get none?

Marion Morrison, Cheltenham,

The terrorist threat has always been overstated. Al-Qaeda's 9/11 'success' of killing 3000 people amounts to 1 month of the U.S's road toll (42000/year).

Logically, if a person worries about getting onto a tube or a plane then what is the proportianate level of anxiety that should be experienced when getting into a car ?

Sadly I think that the greatest harm achieved by Binny and his entourage is that inflicted on their own followers. These sad misguided individuals are the victims of a con, nothing more.

What irony, the stated aim is to bring down the west and yet the greatest harm is to those nearer to home. Those at the top still enjoy a position and receive some sort of adulation though...

How do people fall for the con ? In the end this is basically a cult, complete with the required brainwashing / thought-reform / mind-control or what ever you want to call it.

Google 'Lifton thought reform'.

Glen, Basingstoke, UK

Useful for illustrating the attitudes of the cultural elite in Britain and the Continent, but otherwise fatuous. Moreover, the attitudes in question--foremost, reluctance to confront militant Islam as anything other than a middling criminal matter perpetrated by incompetents of indefinite cultural and religious background whilst ranting against the pet demons du jour: Bush, the neocons, and the evangelicals--is a cliche. And like all cliches, it displays lazy thinking. The budding conflict between the West and the Islamic world has been brewing for many years, long before the War in Iraq or even 9/11. All one has to do is look at demographic, economic, and political trends to recognize that Britain and Europe face some significant challenges in the coming decades. The only thing that is certain is that by 2050 there will far more Muslims in the Europe than there are now. Let's hope that by then we manage to bring most of them around to your way of seeing things, Mr. Parris.

Adam B, Los Angeles, U.S.

On the anniversary of 7/7, Matthew Parris declares "it's O.K". there is no enemy within and if there is, they are idiots. They the idiots, present no threat and to confirm his theory, he did not ask his cab driver, he went to a higher authority, his newsagent. Assuming he is correct, would we but doubt the word of Matthew?,although I personally would have preferred his cabby's confirmation, then the terrorist insurance that some of are playing on our properties is part of another wicked capitalist plot to extract more money, to compensate the underwriters for their losses on our normal buildings insurance, so generously offered as "cut price".
It is only fitting in this week of Wimbledon, where the sun shone every rain-less day, that we believe the gospel according to Matthew (Parris) and at the same time, paraphrase the never to be forgotten words of the great John Mcenroe "This man cannot be serious", or is he?

M Fishman, London UK,

The idea that the Islamists are a mighty force that is a threat to Western civilisation has been a fraud perpetrated by cynical or foolish politicians from day 1 (and I said so at the time). We are not at "War" with the Islamists, they are just a sad bunch of crooks and losers who have no chance of achieving any sort of victory. They need to be controlled as part of a law enforcement campaign - but they don't kill anywhere near as many Westerners as home grown criminals - and we should leave that to the professionals and stop obeying the politicians and media people when they tell us to panic. The only thing that threatens Western civilisation is its loss of backbone, combined with the erosion of its own traditions of freedom and civil society by the likes of Bush, his puppet master Cheney, and his poodle Blair.

Oliver Chettle, Bedford,

As I said...

Fabio C, London, UK

Two points concerning this article:
-It is a hostage to fate, and hence a very stupid thing to write. Just one successful terrorist attack in British soil (remember 7/7?) and who is going to end up looking 'a bit gay'? I suppose in your case that is not a problem...
-The opposition to the Iraq War in America and Britain are not comparable: in Britain it may be due to 'principles', or lack thereof in my opinion; in The States it is due to not winning fast enough, not any fundamental opposition. The opposition to the war in the US is vert soft, as changes in its support due to events on the ground have shown.

Frederick Davies, Oxford, UK

"Robert of Manchester: If the cylinders in a burning house were likely to explode, the firemen wouldn't be allowed to drag them out. With either a lot of luck, or a lot of skill, they could explode. "

I suggest you do a little research. I personally know that cylinders can explode, I watched 3 of them blow up in my garage a few years ago in a house fire.

We need to be very careful about portraying jihadists as bumbling idiots who couldn't seem to make a car explode.
If they had succeeded, most of the people dismissing them would be calling them evil geniuses.
It doesn't take a genius to kill a lot of people. None of the 19 who pulled off 9-11 had PHDs.

Jackpine Savage, Gladwin, MI, USA

Dismissing all jihadists because a few lack technical expertise is really off the mark. Add one technically competent individual to this latest crew and many many lives would have been seriously threatened.

P.S. Most remarkable that I'm reading this on 7/7.

Jim Moser, Crofton, USA

Fortunately, we're so much better at unleashing death than they are. More US troops have died in Iraq than in the Twin Towers. Often, well more than 52 people die in Iraq per day. Overall estimates run into the hundreds of thousands. When a nation of 300 million which spends almost as much as the rest of the world combined on the military and defense is afraid of a guy with some explosives in his shoe, something is wrong.

Bob, Annapolis, MD USA

Mr Parris, yet again you have hit the nail on the head. These recent would-be terrorists should be ridiculed, because nobody will be inspired to become a suicide bomber if he thinks his efforts will be greeted with laughter. The most frightening aspect of this latest ‘wave of terror’ is that it involved so many doctors. Such half-wits could cause infinitely more harm trying to save life on behalf of the NHS than attempting to take life in the name of Al-Qaeda.

Karl Hemsley, London,

This is a super article. I am beginning to like English people.
ha ha...Those recent terror attacks in UK were not al-qaeda, they were bored, depressed, disheartened and disoriented (due to thousands of dead Muslims in Iraq & Afghanistan) bunch of fools. Nothing to do with orthodox Islam.

Abdul Ali, Tehran, Iran

The IRA said something along the lines of "a terrorist only needs to be lucky once." Don't forget that.

Ben, York,

Getting lucky is not winning.

Mark, DC, USA

The part that I find really ironic is that one of the reasons the gas cylinders didn't explode was because of the health and safety regulations in this country that require gas cylinders to be able to withstand a certain amount of heat before explosion. Furthermore, as a synthetic organic chemist I can't believe how rubbish the chemistry teaching must be in the Middle East. Most A-level students could manage to make a more viable device than these jokers made.

David Wilde, London, UK

Another good article Matthew.
It's about time someone put this whole thing in context.
The trouble is, on the vested interest side, it is not just Bush and his fellow travellers and pet jornos in the UK, that we have to worry about, there is a very long tail of spooks, PR men, shady arms industry types and a whole monstrous security industry bigging up the terrorists.
Every time there is an incident, the broadcast media can't wait to parade numerous "security consultants" who can be relied upon to talk absolute tosh, and to do their utmost to frighten the ctizenry.

L.Stewart, Cranbrook, UK

A nail-laden car bomb is parked outside a club with the intent to kill hundreds. A second car bomb is nearby, set to explode in such a way as to murder the rescuers of the first car bomb's victioms.

This is a well-thought out, diabolical, cunning, vicious plan to murder hunderds of Brits and Scots. I am certain that I recall a similar sequence of bombs having been used to murder rescue workers in the past (in Israel).

You minimize these events at your extreme peril.

Rick, Thousand Oaks, California, USA

This fatuous article is a prime example of ostrich-think. I wonder if the author thinks if a few comic touches to make these would-be and actual murderers more down to earth and accessible to reason will in any way lessen the danger.

Jerry Carroll, Hot Springs Village, USA

John Smith, describing the loss of innocent life as irrelevant is not acceptable. If you wouldn't say it to the faces of the bereaved families of the dead, then don't say it here. Your lack of decency and respect is very un-British.

Marco, Birmingham, uk

What about the 7/7 bombers? I'm not sure that their gruesome success could be described as "a bit gay" The Glasgow bombers were inept it s true but that should not lead us to conclude that we can expect such incompetence from all Islamist terrorists.

Alasdair Chubb, London, UK

What is the going rate of heavenly virgins (or grapes depending on translation) for singing your hair and burning your clothes off? Indeed these are mostly a bunch of pathetic and deluded criminals, nothing more. Interestingly Harold Shipman was a far more effective criminal doctor and was never branded a terrorist. Whilst it is no comfort to anyone who loses life or limb in a willful bombing or a car/train accident, the numbers are so infinitessimal as to be irrelevant, as are the criminals who carry out these crimes, whether doctors, numpties or Dr Evil himself.

John Smith, manchester, UK

Mr. Parris's position that we should pity rather than fear Islamic terrorism is based on the ridiculous assumption that the reasons most Brits and Americans no longer support the occupation of Iraq are the same as those that led most Muslims to rejected intervention from the beginning. Muslims who blame the terrorism of their co-religionists on Iraq or Afghanistan do not criticize the Iraq war because of the toll it exacted on British and American troops, the violence it unleashed in Iraqi society, or the failure to find WMDs; they simply see it and have always seen as another instance of the Western assault on Islam. This is hardly the "reasoned opposition to the war" Parris attributes to them.

The only thing standing between British civil society and another attack on it by Muslim fascists is the continued success (and luck) of the British police and intelligence agencies, not some general identification with Muslim grievance.

Stefan, Guildford,

I'm not so sure that evil and sillyness/stupidity are mutually exclusive. The intent to harm lives was certainly there.

Based on comments here from other American posters, it would appear that the constant drumbeat in the US from the media and neo-cons telling people to "be afraid, be very afraid" has worked all too well on some. However you are absolutely correct to note that the occupation of Iraq has ever dwindling support among Americans.

Cynthia, San Jose, California

Claudia, Atlanta - what problem had been left undone by the Kuwait war? Leaving Saddam in power? Perhaps Euros might have more patience for that line of argument if it had not been dressed up in an attempt to link Al Quaeda and Iraq. As for you fighting the war (if that is what patrolling a no-fly zone in a country with no functional aircraft or anti-aircraft missiles is) then I would remind you that the UK was also patrolling the same skies, so you should not have felt too lonely. Overall, I tend to agree with the article: some terrorists will get through (as the IRA did) and there is likely to be more loss of life (as with the IRA); beyond that, we should not treat them with any more seriousness than they deserve.

fgfgf, London,

I fear that you are reading the currents events from a middle class caucasian English atheistic perspective. Just because some radicals made a mess of a bombing does not change the fact that British muslims are living in a land of unbelievers that need to be converted (from an Islamic perspective). I went to mosques for a period in the 80's and could clearly see the radicalism then and as far as I can see nothing has changed in the Islamic world... I hope I'm wrong, but it seems to me that we British live a politically correct, naive existence. Jihadists find it relatively easy to employ people because radicalism is at the heart of a literal reading of the Koran.

Iwan, Sheffield, UK

you think al qaida is becoming less effective because of your oh-so-sophisticated opposition to the war on terror ? the reality is that 5 years of relentless political, military and financial pressure have resulted in the killing, capture or driving underground of most of the upper ranks of al qaida and the taliban and the dismantling of cells around the world. Your head in the sand approach may very well cost you yours someday.what is needed is more, not less media exposure of these lunatics and their beliefs.

mark, usa,

Matthew Parris for PM! With Boris Johnson as sidekick, a dream ticket.

John Small, Faversham, UK

Well done Matthew Parriss,a well thought out and convincing article, and I endorse one hundred percent all that you have written.
what we need in this country is more people like you who are not affraid to speak their minds.

Chris Jaggo, Stockton-on-Tees, U.K.

Sad crackpots and evil plotters are not mutually exclusive terms.

Patrick, Birmingham,

Evil Plotters or Crackpots ? One thing is for sure - lots of people would have been killed if the bombs had gone off. So it is alarming that Mathew can write an article arguing who it is that is attacking us in our own country. Surely, given one successful and several unsucessful attacks, we should know by now who wants us dead and why.

Anthony, London,

Can we have the Austrailian PM to run the place! I'm sure i'm not the only one who likes his thinking!

Tess, manchester, uk

What a frivolous article. So if the nutters in Washington and the caves of Pakistan would just chill a little everything would be fine. I suspect next time these silly Jihadis Who Couldn't Shoot Straight will just call in someone from Lebanon for a day or two to make sure their car bombs are wired up correctly.

Jim Connors, Durham,

Oh thank god a voice of reason! I cannot believe that people are condeming what you have writte. Petrol burns but unless contained/compressed it does not explode, similarly gas canisters usually have a valve that under pressure will release. Even if they did explode it would result in an horrendous bang and a fireball that dissipated in less than a second and rose directly upwards. Someone said..concrete doesn't burn but people do..well the people ran and the fire was contained in a small area. These people are not evil, they are trying to create mayhem and failing, if there plot is foiled due to an illegally parked car then we have little to worry about. Secondly can we praise the men that wrestled the burning man to the ground, I myself would have no hesitation in doing the same, as the people on flight U-93 who again decided to stand and fight. At least the majority of the nation has refused to run scared.

Rebecca Comley, MChemistry Hons , Tunbridge Wells,

gas cylinders explode, as occurred about a month ago when a van driver was killed when canisters he was transporting in his van exploded...the street was devastated and closed until remaining cannisters had cooled down...if petrol had been involved the explosion would have created a fire ball as witnessed when the jets 'exploded' after impacted with the WTC. Matthews argument is therefore flawed, and ignore the fact that c. 20 % of our muslim population think suicide bombings are justified and about 10% (100k!!!) thought 7/7 was a reasonable response for the Iraq war....that to me is a significant problem!!!

Dan James, London,

The flippant tone, and content, of the article are amusing. But did the writer mean the the West is no longer under serious threat of mass murder?

As for the reader from Denmark who feels that mass murder of civilians in the West is the result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- how many Western troops were in these two countries when nearly three thousand civilians were killed in the Twin Towers?

Harold, NYC, USA

Terrorist wanabees and our hopes are with your analysis Mathew. Unfortunatley, while this mob were a bunch of no hopers, terrorism has a tendency to perfect its craft and devise more serious methods. Northern Ireland started with kids throwing stones.
hopefully this latest incident may be an expose of the shallowness of ideals and methods of this latest wave of piublic enemies. but i cannot help feeling that this is a beginning and not an end.

james travers, florianopolis, Brasil

It was a nice try Mr. Parris and L-rd knows we need some comic relief. I have to agree with Mark Devon, luckily the plans these people had did not work out for whatever reasons. That is definitely something to rejoice in however whether it is a harbinger of times when less vigilance is required is yet unknown. The point is that these were professionals who had murder and mayhem in their hearts and they wanted to succeed.The degenerates richly deserve the harvest of their failure and I wish them many excruciatingly painful hours, days, weeks, months and years of contemplation concerning precisely why A-lh was not willing.

Linda Dial, Calgary, Canada

Thank God for Matthew Parris. So sensible and so often right on the money, as in this case.

These poor souls seem either to be a bit sad or a bit dim -Richard Reid (the shoe bomber) always looked a bit 'slow' from his photo; the guys on 21/7 didn't seem the brightest sparks and wasn't one of the 7/7 guys "educationally disadvantaged" ie a bit dim, as well? I read someone say of Al Qaeda that "they're no IRA" - well the IRA used their fair share of dimwits as well and the Good Friday agreement was described as "Sunningdale for slow learners". It's just tragic that people have to suffer because of others' stupidity and anger. Keep up the good work Matthew!

Matthew Fan, London,

The issue of whether petrol explodes or does not has also been done to death where I live. I think that part of the story is irrelevant. What is relevant is that someone chose to try and to inflict pain, damage and even death on innocent passersby. The individuals who did this were obviously not top shelf operators but I seem to recall a saying that a person with a small amount of knowledge can be more dangerous than one who is well informed. The authorities everywhere need to work with each other to get to the bottom of this and to make an example of anyone involved. I am also sick to the back teeth of people suggesting that your new PM has stage managed all of this to enhance his profile.

Karen, Adelaide, South Australia

I really think that the terrorists ARE fools. You have to be, to be one. The only one who wasn't, was Mohammed Atta, the evil genius plotter of 9/11. Now there was a guy who had the goods to get the job done in a horrifically spectacular way. But natural born leaders, even the evil ones, are not born everyday it seems, and after Attas's work, we were left with perhaps a faulty impression that somehow the terrorists had morphed into super-effecient killing machines. Fortunately for us, Atta was one of a very few. Unfortunately for them, suicide missions by definition lose their best talent.

(And again Euros, Iraq was not Bush's "crusade". It was an attempt to take care of the Iraq problem stemming from Saddam's Kuwait War once and for all. After all, we were the ones responsible for the place for the last 10 years. So many Euro's seem to forget that little war that mostly WE had to fight for them and deal with (again), while you traded oil for palaces. Learn about it.)

Claudia, Atlanta, USA

Dear Matthew,

Your appreciation of "the tide turning agains terrorism" is, pardon me, like the bomb that did not quite explode, i.e. not awfully expert.
As long as the people of a given faith, race or nationality must go on followubg the carnage of their brothers and the distruction of their country, there will be more and more of those who react to it.
Just figure Yourselves sitting in front of a tv in, say, Ireland, and following, day after day, how London is bombed in pieces with thousand deaths per month, all able to do something crowding out to do it in other countries, You too might react.
If You have not got military training, You might try to drive a car in some official buuilding, for example.

P J Järvinen, Copenhagen, Denmark

On the specific point of exploding gas cylinders, technically, they burst as a result of the increase in pressure caused by the increased temperature as expressed in Boyles Law. This will happen even to a cylinder of non-flammable gas if it is heated enough. The ball of flame is caused only if the gas in the cylinder is, itself, flammable. Containers of petrol (or other flammable liquid) behave in the same way. An explosion can be defined by the speed of its flame front. The speed of advance of the flame front of petrol ignited at normal temperature and pressure in the atmosphere does noy reach the threshold speed to make it an explosion. To achieve that you need to create a fuel/air mix of the correct proportions as explained by Mr Urben. The IRA achieved something like this this when the bombed the La Mon Hotel outside Belfast in February 1978 killing members of the Irish Collie Club and the Northern Ireland Junior Motor Cycle Club.

Bill, Belfast, N.I.

As usual Matthew talking sense, the Torys must regret his loss. Not entirely sure about the gas cylinder explosion theory, I remember a piece of video taken at an accident and fire on the M3 showing cylinders exploding and being thrown considerable distances. Maybe not bang but woof and I for one wouldnt hang around to find out. who was right.

mike gee, bournemouth, uk

I agree with the author in that these most recent 'terrorists' attacks were amateurish in their execution. I do however disagree with the fundamental argument upon which the author base his opinion. In my opinion the author is mistaken in assuming that the 'bombers' wanted to start a fire to 'burn the concrete' of Glasgow airport. The real desired outcome of this failed 'bombing' was - in my opinion and based on what I have seen in the media - to initiate a 'BLEVE'. I urge the author to research this term. A BLEVE is potentially lethal and although ignorance is bliss, I believe that a journalist/commentator simply 'writing the problem away' is either ignorant or attempting to disinform the public. Believe me - you do not want members of the public running towards a burning car (with propane gas cylinders inside) to extract the occupant because they have read in Mr Parris' column that 'petrol do not explode' and 'concrete don't burn'.

Etienne van Zyl, Drayton-St Leonard, UK

A core objective of Bin Laden and all Jihadists is to overrun the West and establish a global caliphate based on Sharia law. They wish to return to the days when Islamic cultured flourished and produced some of the finest academic, scientific and cultural works in the world.

Failure to achieve past greatness and to be global leaders has created a culture with a collective chip on its shoulder. The lack of progress and greatness become more evident the more educated you are, which explains why so many Jihadists are the culture’s most educated members.

Most Jihadists come from totalitarian countries where the status quo is rigidly observed and there are few opportunities for real change, so they are left to watch everyone else moving forward while they just sit there stewing in an ever-growing frustration and rage.

Think of them as the global version of the school misfit who has no hope of ever joining the cool crowd and consoles himself with fantasies and dreams of greatness.

Johanna Hoffmann, Toronto, Canada

An excellent article Matthew and one that should be read by every politician and bureaucrat in the land. Not only for espousing how we should view these "crackpots" - but for showing that a gay, British man - secure in his sexuality, doesn't mind, in the slightest, the term "a bit gay".
The erosion of our civil liberties (getting through JFK airport security last week reduced my wife to tears) hands these idiots a victory that is unwarranted. Humour and ridicule has to be the British way forward - in the face of any disaster!
As so often in Britain today, the howls of outrage when Jeremy Clarkson used the term "a bit gay" to describe a car, came not from gay men and women in general (those that I know, being British, found it all quite a giggle) but from those supposedly "representing" gay men and women - and in fact, not representing them at all.

Fin, Richmond,

A minimalist response to this is a serious mistake. We all to often set aside the notion of community held values and these people, no matter how incompetent, run totally contrary to those values. A minimalist approach to the response compromises the communities values as also not worthy of a proper response.

Th real question is can Britain sustain freedom of a religion that comes with a draconian political system attached? If it can not what does this mean socially & politically?

M. Prins, Minneapolis, Minesota

The scary thing is, they tried to blow us up and were useless at it. What if they tried to kill us by giving us the wrong drugs or treatment etc. (something they know about)

paul, lagos, portugal

The terrorists are always portrayed as buffoons when the attacks fail.

It is important to understand that, yes, these doctors and conspirators were inept. They are out on the periphery of al Qaeda's sphere of influence and obviously didn't have the training to effectively execute an attack.

But no one seems to recognize the obvious: the real fighters, the highly trained ones who can kill large numbers of people efficiently are in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. They are otherwise engaged fighting the occupations everyone seems to detest so much. Or--just as likely-- they have been killed or captured in fighting those occupations.

That's why the Bush/Blair strategy is apparently working better than those opposed to it can admit. Iraq is a mess, but Afghanistan appears to be moving toward normalcy after three decades of bloodshed and oppression.

Those opposed to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and counseling withdrawal, should perhaps review their position.

theduke, Pala, California USA

....He is not part of a marginalised community in an alien land: he is part of a democracy that made a mistake in Iraq, and knows it, and will in due course repent of it publicly as well as privately...

Due course? Due course? How about now? How about last year? How about 2 years ago?
Why do you keep voting twits like Blair in while all of these Iraqis die?
Stopping being so casual about all of the death and destruction, like you would want others to be if the shoe were on the other foot.

Tim Bee, Toronto, Canada

Mr Parris would no doubt have said the same thing of the mid 1920s NAZI party, with their idiotic costumes, prancing marches, ridiculous torchlight parades, what reasonable person wouldn't? We in the West need to understand what is really happening here. This murderous activity, hatred and bigotry is the real face of the islamic faith, not radical islam but mainstream islam. Until that fact is confronted there will be more attacks and they won't always fail.

Roger, Palm Harbor, Florida

One of the best articles that I have read in a very long time. I was extremely confused by the newspapers reporting that these so called "car bombs" could have caused huge loss of life, from the description in the paper they sounded ridiculous. "Cars packed with petrol and gas canisters with nails." I'm 19 years old with A-levels and in my first year doing Graphic Design and I could tell you that the "bomb" had very little potential. Yes the petrol might have ignited, but anyone with any kind of knowledge about gas canisters will tell you those things are nigh on indestructable. In a world where documents such as the anarchist's cook book exist, documenting how to easily prepare and use home made napalm, C4, semtex and a whole host of various other menacing creations, it seems these terrorists really do need to do their homework before they decide to attack somewhere else, as Glasgow was just downright laughable.

Curtis Anderson, Gloucester, UK

Absolutely right Matthew. The frothing redtops, necon warmongers and politicians (like TB) needing to either justify their 'righteous' cause or just grab a good headline, have made fear and loathing into the jihadi terrorists biggest weapon. They can say 'we're winning' when they see overreaction spilling over into fear of all things Islamic. Iraq is a pretext for them, sure, but it's too late to put that particular cat back into the jihadi grievance bag, it has already joined a long list stretching back to the crusades, and including imperialism, oil exploitation, invasion, and Palestine. Withdawal from Iraq will not stop the attacks, but it may slow down the rate of growth and thin the pool of willing recruits a bit. Let's get a bit more mature in how we handle all this - I do believe jihadi terrorism is a 10-15 year phenomenon and will die out when nothing constructive is achieved by it, just like all death cults and terrorist movements.

Nick Towle, Doha,, Qatar

If there is a journalistic award for wishful thinking, this article should win hands down. The gist of the author's logic seems to be that since the gas cannister attack failed and one of bombers had that embarrassing photo taken with his clothes burned off, radical Islamists will slap their foreheads and say, "what was I thinking! I have to stop this silly jihad nonsense!"

Today's date (7/7) should remind you of what happens when these people are successful. The "alarmist" media is simply reporting reality.

Larry K. Barney, Sulphur Springs, Texas, USA

Judith - exactly who is on their knees, trembling with fear?

fgfgf, London,

You need a new consultant chemist - gas/O2 explosive ratios are temperature dependent - the plan was for a relatively small explosion to disperse the fuel and then to count on high temperatures of the burning fuel once it is no longer in the confines of the car. These methods worked well as anti-personnel weapons in the early days of the Iraq "insurgency".
Also various polls do not support your view of a large majority of anti-terrorism sympathetic Muslims, especially amongst the younger set. What is your personal agenda, in suggesting a passive approach to terrorist events - pure passivism or sympathy for a "persecuted" minority?

William Tatton, Fort MacLeod, Canada

Good try, Matt, to downplay the very real threat of Islamism. I think that wit aside, you know in your heart of hearts that flying jet airplanes into skyscrapers and blowing up tube trains in order to kill as many innocent people as possible in the most excruciating way possible is absolutely evil.

Paul, Columbia, USA

Excellent article Mr Parris, thankyou.
Judith Edelstein, it must be hard typing while you're "on your knees trembling with fear." - I think it's a overstatement to extend that to the rest of the world, 99.9% of whom, I suspect, are just getting on with life as usual. Lord alone knows how you would have managed to live in London (as I did) while the - far more successful - IRA bombing campaign on mainland Britain was going on. Maybe Brits are generally less prone to hysteria, I don't know, but running round like Henny Penny (or trembling on one's knees) screaming that the sky is falling never seems to achieve much. Yes, there are dangerous and hateful people around, as well as their incompetent fellow-haters, and we're hardly likely to forget this, but I think Matthew Parris has hit the nail on the head and it's heartening to see that the vast majority of Britons and a few Americans on here also agree with him.
"Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand. " – Mark Twain

Rose, Glasgow, Scotland

I like your idea about “debunking” the myth of al-Qaeda and terrorism. Gordon Brown set the tone by urging us to be “vigilant” rather than frothing at the mouth about how we are going to win the war on terror. You make lots of valid points about “evil” being cool. I mean a training camp in remote mountains , well it’s a bit like a Scouts jamboree but with live rounds.

However, I would like to point out that in Iraq the same terrorists have been very, very effective at getting that vapour/petrol equation right. Also, shame, isn’t it, that Muslim newsagents in Bagdad are unable to benefit from the democracy that Muslims in the UK can benefit from.

K. Van Calster, Brussels, Belgium

Very good article amusing and I think correct in your hunch that the public find the terrorists laughable but we should not be too complacent. On some points of fact :-
1 The "fires" that brought down the twin towers in New York worked on the same principles as the London and Glasgow attempts though on a much larger scale.
2 The latest "bombs" failed to detonate but had they gone off they would have sent nails and shrapnel into the crowds. They were not trying to set fire to the building.
3 Concrete will melt if you get it hot enough. More pertinent, buildings are made of steel reinforced concrete and when the steel gets hot enough it weakens and distorts and brings down the building as we saw in New York.
These people are engineers and scientists, they cocked this one up but they have the expertise to succeed in the future and we need to be even more vigilent.

Jim Clifton, Caterham,

Your article therefore implies that the terrorists are not bombing and attempting to bomb us because of Iraq, Afghanistan or any other imagined grievance. If they know, that so many non-Muslims were against the Iraq war then their strategy would be to get us onside against the 'neo-cons' rather than alienating us and making people more hostile towards Islam. I think this proves that perhaps they are the ones that want a clash of civilisations, they think they can implement the introduction of such medieval practices as Sharia law. This also shows their contempt for the 'infidel' who they do not see as individuals with differening choices and opinions but one homogenous mass of 'non-Muslims' whose blood is theirs to spoil. For all the Islam=peace diatribes I read everyday in the newspapers, we must remember that the Koran and its prophet preached war - "Do not make friends with Jews and Christians" etc. Read the Koran - the 'real' Muslims are those that follow these words!

Kristian Allen, London, England

ED from Nairobi Has made my day.:)

Jennifer, Edinburgh,

Exactly. Were we not in the midddle of a wave of anti-Muslim, anti-terror hysteria, this event would have been consigned to the interesting oddities section of newspapers.

JOHN CHUCKMAN, Toronto, Canada

I agree Matthew it's always been obvious that the terror threat is merely the odd disillusioned amateur with a cause.

The problem is Terror is now an industry. It gives votes to politicians and money to newspapers, oil companies, security services, police and arms industry etc. etc. That's why the fear will always be hyped.

David Turner, Leeds, Yorkshire

Facile as usual. Concrete doesn't burn - but people do. Matthew Parris, the journalist for people who don't think.

eric campbell, harrogate, uk

Robert of Manchester: If the cylinders in a burning house were likely to explode, the firemen wouldn't be allowed to drag them out. With either a lot of luck, or a lot of skill, they could explode.

Hollywood has convinced most people that petrol is naturally explosive.

Alex, Tunbridge Wells,

what a dangerous mistake to portray these murderous madmen as a bunch of bumbling nincompoops! in spite of their frequent failures, they remain successful enough to have the world on its knees, trembling in fear, waiting for the next inevitable shoe to drop horribly. dismissing them as an ineffectual comic act might might make us feel better today but will result in a very high price to pay later.

judith edelstein, great neck,

"Democracy is" not "working for him" or anyone else in UK. Most people voted other than Labour in 2005; most people supposedly oppose continued military engagement in Iraq. Labour won; Iraq engagement continues. How is democracy working?
Having said that, adopting a position of mocking ridicule of these would be aggressive destructors would be a breath of realist, rational fresh air, reducing their status, deflating the sense of self-importance that our politicians and you media hacks have so eagerly given them.

harlan Leyside, basildon, essex

The only other place I've seen the same thing said is my usual IT magazine, The Register (www.theregister.co.uk). They actually have an ex-bomb-disposal bloke who writes for them and explains why putting gas cylinders in a fire doesn't make them explode.

Eleanor, London, UK

What really ought to worry people is the fact that these were doctors. People who had passed lots of exams, people who would normally be called 'intelligent' and yet demonstrated ineptitude on a massive scale.
The lesson to be learned is that passing exams is not a sign of intelligence - doing is.
Vocational is smart, academic is just plain useless.

eddie reader, birmingham, uk

Yes, completely agree. The supplies of things that go bang in an efficient manner though seem to have dried up. I hope this is because someone on our side is on the ball. BUT the debacle of London and Glasgow is having the desired effect, just ask anyone on the Central Line at Mile End this week or the taxpayer who picks up the bill for the extra policing in London this weekend. Classic tactics, a million small cuts will bring you down as well as one good lunge to the heart, it just takes longer. ( Thirty years in the case of the IRA).

mike mines, london,

i guess the guys who killed 52 people 2 years ago today were "a bit gay" as well were they, Matthew? It's been a good week in that no-one got hurt, but there was a lot of luck in that. We'd be having another debate if the Haymarket bomb hadn't been detected totally by chance.

jim poyser, manchester,

Oh dear, someone else is starting to forget 7/7 and the very efficient slaughter of 52 people on London transport. If this mood continues, the BBC will soon start to be repeating "The Power of Nightmares" (a programme that they've conveniently forgotten for the past couple of years) and telling us that there are no terrorists...

John Tomlinson, Brentwood, Essex

While I tend to agree with most of the sentiments of the article, I believe that the target was not bricks and mortar (hence the need for explosive impact) but of people. The intent was clearly to cause a huge incendary device (explosive ball of flame caused by propane gas in cylinders) that would kill or disfigure a large number of people. Lets not forget that these people were intent on this ruthless attack.

All forms of extremism, whether religious or political, is dangerous so lets not under-rate this last week but also at the same time not follow the knee-jerk reaction that the headlines would have us do

Geoff, Macclesfield, UK

What a boring, rambling article.

I thought I would enjoy reading this; instead, I was bored to tears. Must try harder.

Robert Thé, London, UK

I wouldnt say that terrorism in the UK is at all incompetent...Just ask a survivor or perhaps an amputee or at worst a surviving relative of a victim of the less recent bombings on public transport here in London.

Your article aids the terrorists by trying to lull us into a false sense of security.

Yes.. their last attempts were futile, but just like us in our continuing resolve, I'm sure the anti-freedomites have bundles of enthusiam and initiative in store.

Benjamin, London, UK

Once again Mathew a good article. Whilst not all Muslims are against us, those who are need to be severely dealt with when caught such as the guys this week. Muslims do need to be British first, and not Muslims who happen to live here, this mind think needs to change urgently. The best actions we the public can take are to engage with the Muslim community. A simple way is to smile and acknowledge them when out and about, instead of diverting your eyes. This works wonders, talk with Muslims when the opportunely arises, you’ll be surprised by their politeness, and understanding.

Michael Mallin, Sheffield,

At last - someone who recognises the native wit of the British public in today's absurdist geopolitics. Thank you.

Eleanor, Sèvres, France

This is a great article!

As a Muslim, i agree 101%, sir!

Some western mainstream media (mainly in usa) are glorifying Islamic terrorism in order to help them gain further support for their global war on terror (oil). They'll find any scrap of bad news to demoralize Muslims throughout the world, which, imo, is turning some moderate Muslims against the west. Western media propaganda is another (Iraq/Afghan wars being the other) recruitment tool for fanatics.

I know there are a lot's of intelligent/honest British people like you (Mr Parris) sir, who are winning the hearts and minds of British Muslims.

Mohammed, London, UK

Gas cylinders certainly are highly explosives as all fire fighters know too well. If you heat a compressed cylinder rapid expansion will occur until the vessel ruptures under enormous pressure, if there is a flame near by the released gas will result in an explosion. Its more of an expansion gas bomb than a normal detention bomb. In my mind the Glasgow attack was just desperation as they knew they would soon be caught, the early London attacks could have been devastating if these bomb makers had more experience.

Steve, London, England

Nice article.

Terrorists (and the fanatics who support them) want to be feared, respected, idolised.

What they really can't stand is to be laughed at. Recent events in the centre of London and Glasgow have indeed made these home-grown jihadists appear simply ridiculous, with schemes that the "The Professionals" scriptwriter would have discarded as too outlandish.

"Laughter is the rust that corrodes anything" - Vaclav Havel, Czech writer, dissident & President of the first post-Communist Czech Republic

Xian, London,

This, like almost all the comments made since the event, depends on the fact that the attack didn't work. If it had we would hsve had no talk of how good it is trhat the Home Secretary not the Prime Minister made the first reaction. No talk of how good it is that the government is not using an attack to introduce further limits on our liberties. Instead, there would have been a massive response.
Maybe this attack shows that the only people who can get through the MI5 net are amateurs who will mess things up. if so, we should be thankful and relieved. But it's a bit early to say that the game is over.

Daphne Millar, Bristol,

"Brain Surgeon fails to set fire to car full of petrol". Says it all, really.

Ed Blagden, Nairobi, Kenya

I thought that Richard Reid's attempt to set fire to a shoe with a box of matches before being restrained by an air stewardess, would take some beating, but recent events seem to be aimed at ousting Reid from the top of the "Britain's Worst Terrorist" league.

We shouldn't forget that not only did they set fire to a car and their own clothes, they also knocked over a litter bin in central London.

Glynn Bird, Middlesbrough, UK

I have seldom read a wiser summing up of the situation. If I was sitting in a tube train which exploded I would feel terror. If I were in the street outside watching the drama, or reading about it or watching on TV I would not. I would feel anger, sympathy and sadness for those of us who had to live in the 2oth century when God was caugfht napping; when total war,concentration camps. the attempted eliminartion of a race;the rise of a small tribe, the Wahabi,which perverts the Muslim faith.,in peaxce and toleratrion, when World Wars happened twice .
I would not feel terror which can only come from personal experience and I do wish the Media would cease from using the words because it fits a headline

skidmore, march, cambs

The world trade center was attacked in the 1990s and that plot failed. The second July tube bombers in London also failed to detonate their backpack. We get lucky sometimes but other times they get lucky and many lives are lost. If that Jeep had made it into the airport lounge and had exploded 100s of people would have been killed.

Mark, Devon, England

The way I see this is voiced by others here, the plot is by the government to take our eyes from the home front in the UK, the taxes, the hunger and the lack of housing and so on, wake up England, the government is fooling you into believing the threat is from Islam when it is from the government,

Have you noticed how our civil liberties are going down the drain, this is nothing I can tell you,

You aint seen nothing yet.
John

John Armitage, Wellington, UK

I think strict sharia law really is Evil (while simultaneously managing to be lame, somehow), and distorted excitable ad-lib sharia is even worse, and a country infected with this ideology is often aggressive and a danger to other countries. So my evangelical foreign policy is a safer attitude than your non-interventionist one. The simple problem of how to avoid homegrown terrorists trying to set off bombs is not the most important problem to focus on, because it has a simple and ultimately dangerous solution: be quiet and don't fight.

I have a feeling you're right about the sea-change, though.

Felix, Nottingham,

Dear Sir. As a proud, law abiding and productive gay man, I can tell you that what those crazy Muslim people did in Glasgow airport have nothing gay. No, I don't care what is "the latest lingo", I don't hang-out in the same spots where you do. Just because this last attack was a failure doesn't mean the next ones will also be. I know that to be a snob is part of the character of lots of people in this country here but that should not keep you from realizing that we cannot take this crazy people for granted.

Fabio C, London, UK

Interest article. Society contains many strands of "crackpots" and conspiracy theorists who we dont take seriously but are nevertheless a small minority and we live with them. Then there are the dangerous "crackpots" such as the psychopaths, pedophiles etc who are not an organised cultural movement but they nevertheless are out there and we need to guard ourselves against being in a situation where we and our children become vulnerable. We dont liken them to a "war". So I suppose the idea that these Jeep crashing idiots are incompetent at best and dilusional criminal egomaniacs at worst and should be treated as such is quite appealing for our sense of future security.

Albert Ellis, Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire UK

Matthew, you are spot on. Thank you for actually voicing what the majority of the public feels (there's no more white/black/brown/yellow/green etc. for crying out loud we are all one team, we're British).
Sadly, politicians of all shades, as always, keep drumming up 'external' issues to divert attention from my country's bread and butter issues. These cheats don't have the guts to tackle the NHS, housing, income and stealth tax robberies and public transport.

Kamal Haider, London,

Mathew what a delightfully optimistic point of view. The Glasgow incident shows us that , because someone has the brains to become a doctor it does not mean he has the common sense to know concrete does not burn !!
Acts like this at best shake up politicians & security forces & give us the impetus to look into the very heart of the establishments employment methods.
What's more it also has the Polically Correct brigade on the rack, thank god for that & about time too.
So as you say , the more idiot's that fail in their effort's to destroy us the more we see them for what they are, silly , ignorant ,idealists who will never win or earn an iota of respect from the British people who have known & beaten true evil 60 years before this.

Maggie Millington, Brittany, France

It may have been that all of the "wolf-crying" was an attempt at involving the non-violent Musim population in helping to thwart the terrorists / idiots. It took place mostly before the convictions of offenders, which have now happened (despite extreme delaying tactics on the part of defence lawyers).
This enabled the "knee-jerk protesters" to point out that there had been "X number of arrests but only Y number of convictions, its all the racist heavy-handed police, there are no terrorists"
Now that the convictions are finally coming through, even the police mistrusting recent immigrants are having to accept that there are elements within their society that mean us all harm.

Edward Johns, Lannion, France

Matthew - thank you so much; the voice of reason amongst a hysterical press and even more frantic politicos. If this is the best Al Qaeda can do they make the IRA campaigns of yore look the height of terrorist sophistication. It'll be kids on bikes next at this rate.

Jeremy Poynton, Fromeville, 51st State

I agree with your overall argument. The terrorists are looking lame. But on the specific point, petrol in the right conditions is explosive. The molotov cocktail was a Finnish present to the Russian foreign minister -Molotov for invading Finland. It was petrol in bottle with a flaming rag, but also I think detergent and air in the correct proportions. It was powerful enough to blow a Russian tank tread off. Finnish chemists came up with this tactic because they did not have any other way of stopping the Russian armoured advance during the 1939 winter war. It must have been reasonably successfully because they defended most of Finland.

Brendon, Guernsey,

I worked as a civilian for the fire brigade and one thing the fire crews really hated was having to drag red hot gas cylinders out of a burning property.

Would they have bothered doing this if the cyclinders were unlikely to explode? I remember seeing a video of one exploding in an enormous fire ball.

How likely would they be to explode in a burning car?

Lots of questions and no answers.

Robert, Manchester,

It is not just the media who over estimate the ability and power of terorrists. Have we forgotten the tanks at Heathrow and the endless cries of "wolf!" from Blunkett and Reid.
Of course the terrorists are dangerous, but an external threat can always make a useful diversion from day to day problems and demonstrate the need for yet more control by "those who know better".

Tom Sykes, Huddersfield, UK