So, It's Al Qaeda After All. posted by Richard Seymour

We can't be sure yet, of course, but Al Qaeda look like they are accepting - nay, clamouring for - responsibility for the grotesque multiple bomb attack on Madrid train stations today:

DUBAI (Reuters) - A letter purporting to come from Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network has claimed responsibility for the train bombings in Spain, calling them strikes against "crusaders", according to a London-based Arabic newspaper.

"We have succeeded in infiltrating the heart of crusader Europe and struck one of the bases of the crusader alliance," said the letter which called the attacks "Operation Death Trains". There was no way of authenticating the letter, a copy of which was faxed to Reuters' office in Dubai by the London-based al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper.

The letter bore the signature "Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades". The newspaper received similar letters from the same brigade claiming responsibility on behalf of al Qaeda for a November bombing of two synagogues in Turkey and the August bombing of the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad.

Now, I'm just cogitating here, this is in no way a capitulation to the so-called "war on terror", but if its possible for these twits to carry out such an atrocity in Spain, why not here? Why not, indeed, an attack in the Tube? Trouble is, if it is true, then we self-evidently are failing to curtail the Al Qaeda threat. And bombing anywhere won't help us. Imagine that, a problem that can't be solved by killing some people... who woulda thunk it?