BY WAY OF WARNING – AT 6:25 P.M. ET:  A guilty plea in New York shows how close we've come to another catastrophic terror attack.  From The New York Times:

Najibullah Zazi, the Afghan immigrant who was a key player in what the federal authorities have said was one of the most serious threats to the United States since the 9/11 attacks, pleaded guilty on Monday to terrorism charges after admitting to a plot to blow up the subways.

He admitted that he came to New York around the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks to kill himself and others on the subway, to draw attention to the killing of Afghan civilians by the United States military.

Mr. Zazi appeared before Judge Raymond J. Dearie at Federal District Court in Brooklyn. He pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, conspiracy to commit murder overseas, and providing material support for a terrorist organization. He faces a sentence of life in prison.

COMMENT:  We were lucky.  We stopped this one.  We've stopped a number of them.  But sooner or later, an attack is going to succeed.  We are not ready, psychologically or physically. 

February 22, 2010