It was puzzling to read opinion pieces in liberal newspapers like The New York Times and Newsday lamenting the Christmas Day al-Qaida attempt to blow up a Northwest Airlines jet. Most of the liberal press agreed: That was not a nice thing to do, and those terrorists should stop the attacks this very minute. But no actual solutions to stopping terrorism were put forth by the progressive press. Of course, 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a loser from Nigeria, was not exactly 007 in executing his mission. That might speak to how badly al-Qaida has been downgraded by aggressive measures put...