TERROR NEWS – AT 8:10 A.M. ET:  Isn't it remarkable how terror has made a comeback?  The Obama revolution was supposed to relegate this Bushian thing to the rear burner, but the terrorists wouldn't cooperate.  It's a cultural thing.

Two stories this morning grab our attention.  Yemeni authorities confirm contacts between the Christmas day bomber and a radical imam, as The New York Times reports:

SANA, Yemen — A senior official here confirmed on Thursday that the young Nigerian man accused of attempting to bomb an airliner approaching Detroit on Christmas Day had met with Al Qaeda operatives and with Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical American-born Internet preacher, in Yemen before setting out on his journey.

No shock there.  And...

Mr. Awlaki was also linked to an American officer, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who is accused of a shooting spree at Fort Hood, Texas, in which 13 people were killed last November.

Say what?  Accused?  Even in careful journalism it's permitted to drop the "accused" or "alleged" when there is no reasonable doubt.  He did it.  He doesn't deny it.  The only issue is the nature of his defense.

Mr. Awlaki, whose calls for holy war resonate among Al Qaeda sympathizers, exchanged e-mails with Major Hasan before the Fort Hood shootings.

And we knew about it, too.  Presumably, the administration is investigating what went wrong, but for some reason the Christmas day bomber is getting far more publicity, although no one died.

And another story.

(CNN) -- Al Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing in Afghanistan last month that killed seven CIA employees and contractors and a Jordanian military officer, according to a statement posted on Islamist Web sites.

Al Qaeda is resurgent.  Terror is resurgent.  This attack occurred in Afghanistan, but a third of all terror attacks mounted against the United States since 9-11 occurred in 2009, on Barack Obama's watch.

Mustafa Abu Yazid, al Qaeda's commander of operations in Afghanistan and its No. 3 man, said the attack avenged the death of Baitullah Mehsud, leader of the Taliban in Pakistan who was killed in a missile strike last August, and al Qaeda operatives Saleh al-Somali and Abdullah al-Libi.

The December 30 blast at a U.S. base in Khost, in southeastern Afghanistan, killed seven CIA operatives including two from private security firm Xe, formerly known as Blackwater. The eighth victim was Jordanian Army Capt. Sharif Ali bin Zeid, a cousin of Jordan's King Abdullah II.

A former U.S. intelligence official identified the suicide bomber as Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, a Jordanian doctor who acted as a double agent. He was recruited as a counterterrorism intelligence source, according to a senior Jordanian official.

Have you noticed how many terrorists, and terror leaders, are physicians?  What do they teach in the medical schools over there?  This is an interesting issue, and someone should look into it.

COMMENT:  I suspect we'll have more stories like this as 2010 unfolds.  Already, the usual suspects in the media are lining up to defend Obama's anti-terror record, but if a few attacks are successful, the comparison with the Bush years will be inevitable.  Despite the media's efforts, Bush may well come out on top in public opinion, at least on national security.

January 7,  2009