Having just written the critique below of Sasha Abramsky's Open Democracy piece on the defensive approach to the war on terrorism, word comes of a" credible threat" to the New York subway system. Exercise: read the linked article and ask yourself the following question."If the information available to us is as confused as that indicated in this article, how exactly is greater citizen involvement going to lead to a strategy for dealing with terrorism?"

Reader, we've been here before. Remember the"imminent threat" of the attacks on the subways that were supposed to take place between September 11 and September 19? You've forgotten? Never fear: I blogged it for you back in August. Remember how precise the intelligence was last time? Remember the excellent opportunities it afforded for populist anti-terrorist efforts by busy commuters? Read Nostradamus lately?

So we know that tomorrow terrorists might strike somewhere in the New York metro area. Maybe. Or maybe not. Pretty helpful information. OK, quick: everybody scramble to your places, be really vigilant, root out the terrorists, but don't profile or violate anyone's civil liberties or panic in the process. Remember: sometimes a backpack is just a backpack. But...sometimes it functions as a receptable for high explosives for a suicide bomber. You make the call--on the subway platform! Democracy at work.

I'll blog this some more tomorrow, assuming I survive the morning commute.