[GmbyMan]

Wow! Way to go Turkey!

[Ruth A.]

Turkish TV said three of the suspects had been planning for as long as a year to blow themselves up with a bomb that would also kill Bush and other Western leaders.
The plot had reached a very advanced stage and terrorists had begun testing explosives

One can only hope that test bombers were used, too.

[Waco]

Bush should send kerry in his place.

[VisualizeSmallerGovernment]

Or as John Kerry might put it: one of our fraudulent coalition members, using Ashcroft-like tactics unilaterally violated the civil rights of its citizens in a desperate attempt to distract attention away from the economy, draw a wedge issue, and further exaggerate the terrorist threat.

[mystery-ak]

This grinning Toprack guy worries me.....I hope they got them all!

[piasa]

Just curious- how were they going to blow themselves and Bush up with bomb and then flee to Iraq ?

Perhaps the author meant some were going to be stupid while the rest were going to run away and hide.

[MEG33]

The article did make it to the Post!

[Hibernius Druid]

Think our unbiased, politically neutral print and broadcast media will be outraged by this plot, as outraged, say, as they are about Iraqi prisoners?

[Westbrook]

What?

No terrorist plot to kill John Kerry?

Could it be that he's their friend?

[alnick]

Turkish TV said three of the suspects had been planning for as long as a year to blow themselves up with a bomb that would also kill Bush and other Western leaders.

[snip]

Koksal said the terrorists planned to flee into Iraq to join the anti-U.S. terrorists after their "sensational" attack in Turkey.

Huh?

[Rutles4Ever]

I don't take comfort in this just yet. There is always the possibility that these guys have wised up and allowed for a "decoy" capture to remove pressure from the active cell. It seems less and less likely that al Qaeda will continue to operate without contingencies -- like the inner skin of an oil tanker that can absorb the initial offending blow. With the amount of planning and money that goes into a terrorist operation of this size, I am concerned that the danger is still present...

[jrushing]

The group, tied to al Qaeda, is believed responsible for twin homicide bombings in Irbil, Iraq, that killed 109 people in February. Koksal said the terrorists planned to flee into Iraq to join the anti-U.S. terrorists

I thought Al Qaeda wasn't in Iraq, according to "the media".

[Cicero]

Turkey has to do more than this to get off our sh** list. Stabbing an old friend and ally in the back when you are in the clinch takes a lot of making up for.

Just think about it. It would hardly be in Turkey's interest to have the world's leaders blown up at a NATO conference they were hosting. It's a good thing for us that these guys were caught, but Turkey had no choice in the matter. This doesn't mean they are our friends any more than the Saudis are our friends because they are arresting people in Arabia for blowing things up there. It's self-protection first and foremost.