TERRORIST STATES. One thing the recent revealed plot to bomb American jets has shown, yet again, is the total inadequacy of the state-actor theory of terrorism so popular in the Bush adminstration. While there are plenty of state sponsors of terror, it’s been apparent for several years that Al Qaeda-style jihadism is increasingly a problem of the Muslim diaspora, and not of states that support terrorism.
Think about it: London is now the place where two separate plots to blow up American airliners (recall would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid?) developed. What are we going to do, invade Finsbury Park? Or depose Tony Blair for harboring terrorists? Of course not. The British are our allies, and so is Pakistan — nuclear Pakistan — which assisted with unravelling the plot.
