The Los Angeles Times‘ Greg Miller sees it and wonders if it makes al-Q less vulnerable to detection. You know me — this is one of those good problems. It underscores the need for vigilant intelligence and police work after the Afghanistan war eventually ends. And it’s true that handfuls of random dudes plotting bad shit are harder to detect. But like with most good intelligence and police work, the patterns become visible after a while even in small groups, especially when the small groups consist of scrubs. Most importantly, the ability to operate undetected correlates strongly with a difficulty in obtaining capability for disaster, as logistical tails are detectable. Obviously there are important caveats and exemptions here — increased technological skill can make an internet presence harder to pick up; human error is as inevitable as it is unpredictable; there’s always the likelihood of al-Qaeda operationalizing a real ninja — but the pattern is overall in our favor. The key will be not to overreact when they pull off something.