That's an idiotic approach, from the streets of Bahgdad? Do you honestly think if we weren't in Iraq at this moment that terrorists wouldn't try to kill innocent civilians in England or America?

Basically another typical left wing nutcase trying to discredit the hard work of our men and women fighting these type of scum in Iraq.

Instead of praising law enforcement for stopping this attack, the nutcase blames us for it.

Typical...

Douglass Price, Houston, USA

If you have a cancer growing inside, you cut it out.

Mark Auman, Las Vegas , USA Nevada

Dear Tim, London. You say "we shall never surrender". I'm afraid to tell you that we've already surrendered. Look at our streets!!

Fabio C, London, UK

Interesting question and one which surprisingly, is rarely asked. What do they want? If one is talking about Al Quada when referring to 'they' then it is quite clear what they want. They have been saying so for many years though the western media and politicians choose not to hear it.

They want imperialist forces out of the middle east, they want corrupt local governments overthrown, they want a state of Islam and they want to see Palestine have its autonomy returned. These are the major gripes according to al Quada leadership who have put out repeated messages along these lines.

Whether these demands are reasonable and achievable is a different matter. I'm continually baffled however why, if our countries are under attack we would not at least listen to the complaints of the attackers and undergo an assessment of whether what is being asked has any basis. Instead it seems much easier to write it off because of the illegal means used to make their point.

alex, london,

You are amazing.. I guess the world was safe from bombs before the US and Britain invaded Iraq.. Tell that to the children that died in Oklahoma City.. The next thing I expect is the British press to somehow connect this terrorist plot to climate change. Listen to the Islamists, they will not be satisfied until they have the caliphate of the 7th and 8th century back. They aren't hiding it. There is no decepion in what they say. The deception is on the part of the press and politicians that make poltical hay by pointing fingers at thier poitical enemies insted of at the people that mean to do the rest of us harm.

Carey Davis, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Who profits the most from Islamic fanaticism?

Bob, Los Gatos, California

I'd say that the techniques being used today were honed on the streets of Jerusalem in the 1990s -- and on the streets of Rome and Frankfurt in the 1970s (the Red Army Faktion knew how to make explosively-formed projectiles even then).

Stuart Creque, Moraga, CA, USA

Terry, Radstock, thank you for providing the only comment that has any sense.
Despite the Forrest Green incident, despite the liquid bombing fiasco (anyone heard anything of that since security was astronomically heightened? terrorist charges against the ringleader in Pakistan were dropped, as per Time magazine...), we are all quick to recognise the real fear of terrorism without realising that nothing blew up, all we have are allegations provided by the police that describe 'actions that would have caused carnage on a massive scale'.
And then we get informed posters on this site telling us that suicidal and mentally ill terrorists want to dominate the whole world and make it Islamic. It all sounds so frightening to christians doesn't it?
I wonder if Al-Qaeda planned this as a tribute to Gordon Brown? Or vice versa? Either way, we couldn't let a quiet summer of politics go without some controversy! Israel into Gaza within 2 weeks! Random arrests! Yeehaa, rally round the flag!

Des, Amsterdam,

Mass immigration - what a great idea that was

Roger Clarke, Swindon, England

You folks need to take a breath. This will not be al Qaeda. This will be a few nice neighborhood boys.

Dan , NEW YORK,

The methods were used long before Iraq, Israel been dealing with them.

Norman Rothchilds, Burleson , TX

naiveappeaser: if they wanted the US and UK armies to leave Iraq, that could be a basis for discussion.

But if they want me and others not to go out to nightclubs, then no, no, a thousand times no. If anything that should be something we should be more keen on fighting for: preserving our own freedom, which is from our own perspectives more important than others'.

We shall fight them in the bars, in the nightclubs, in the streets of the West End; we shall never surrender.

Tim, London,

The terrorists may not be successful in terrorizing the population but they may be successful into turning countries into police states for indefinite periods of time.

Oscar, Calif., US

Chamberlian showed you can't appease evil, you must destroy it!

Patrick, Dallas, Texas

But Gordon Brown had a plan, didn't he? That's why he said he could do it all better than Blair. I thought he had solutions and plans in place already, all his ministers were carefully picked ..............

Janel, X-Pat, W.Washington, US

It is not possible to simply give these people what they want! when it is not just our foreign policy they despise but our culture and way of life also. The only solution islamic to fanaticsm is education and that will take generations, not just a the simple withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan.

James Dobson, Chester,

naiveappeaser in london: You ask why don't we just give these people what they want? What they want is to dominate the whole world. Are you ready to live under a Taliban style government?

Wallace Edward Brand, Alexandria, Virginia

Very convenient and very well timed. If it looks like a set up and acts like a set up it probably is a set up.

Terry, Radstock, England

Many young Muslims have travelled to Iraq and Afghanistan have they?
On their return they will have acquired terrorist expertise?
Return?
Any one traveliing to Iraq and Afghanistan should be interned on return until the purpose of their business is known.
We are reaping the whirlwind here,it is time to get serious.

Michael Rigby, Chorley, England

How many more Islamic terrorist incidents do you need before the citizenry stop demanding action and actually take action. Is this another one of those silly "Peace in our Time" appeasement failures that will eventually deteriorate into a war for the very survival of England and the Western World. Where is Churchill when you need him.

Publiuswarmac, Plymouth, USA

Naiveappearer's comment is strangely, accidentally, perceptive. We don't know what "these people" want (and even if we did, giving it to them would not be an option).

Which leaves us with the awful realisation that they'll never leave us alone.

Tony, London,

Any of these guys that do anything - I think all family relatives should be deported from the country.
That would put more pressure on the families to keep
these nuts under control. See what happens when they start deporting these people.

Joe, London, England

You can't just "give them what they want" when what they want is to reduce citiees to rubble, when they are suicidal, mentally ill and beyond caring if they turn the world to ash. So no, there is nothing they want other than to kill us. I don't think we should give them that.

Sam Lee, Allgeheny County, USA

Why dont we just give these people what they want so that they leave us alone.

naiveappeaser, london,

There will be no need to hijack a tanker. There are probably already sleepers working as drivers.

David Thijm, Stourbridge, UK