ATTACK IN INDIA – AT 9:39 A.M. ET:   We are regularly reminded that terrorism continues as a major threat around the world.  There has been a new attack in India.  It was simple in its execution, the kind of attack American authorities dread could come here.  From AP, via Fox:

NEW DELHI – A powerful bomb hidden in a briefcase ripped through a crowd of people waiting to enter a New Delhi courthouse Wednesday, killing 11 people and wounding scores more in the deadliest attack in India's capital in nearly three years.

The blast at the gate outside the High Court was the second that targeted the building in five months and came despite a high alert across the city. It renewed doubts about India's ability to protect even its most important institutions despite a security overhaul that followed the 2008 Mumbai siege.

"Have we become so vulnerable that terrorist groups can almost strike at will?" opposition lawmaker Arun Jaitley said in Parliament.

The bomb left a deep crater on the road and shook the courthouse, sending lawyers and judges fleeing outside.

"There was smoke everywhere. People were running. People were shouting. There was blood everywhere. It was very, very scary," said Sangeeta Sondhi, a lawyer, who was parking her car near the gate when the bomb exploded.

A Muslim militant group claimed responsibility for the blast in an email, but investigators said it was too early to name any group as suspects. The government rallied Indians to remain strong in the face of such attacks.

COMMENT:  Some terror experts have wondered out loud why we haven't seen attacks of this kind in the United States.  There have, of course, been attempts – the attempt to blow up an airliner over Detroit, the attempt to set off a bomb in Times Square in New York – but they and other plots have failed.  Is it our good security?  Is it luck?  Is it the possibility that Al Qaeda and its allies only want to plan large attacks?

It's probably a combination of all three.  But the Department of Homeland Security has been warning about lone-wolf attacks, attacks carried out by individuals who may have been radicalized on the internet.  For the lone wolf, the "bomb in the suitcase" scenario is ideal. 

Eternal vigilance, my friends.  Eternal vigilance.

September 7, 2011