Stardate 20030328.1540

(On Screen): Last week, the US government asked 45 nations to expel Iraqi diplomatic personnel. I think a lot of people saw this as being a petty gesture by the US, a way of trying to spite Iraq while trying to force those other nations to make a symbolic gesture either supporting us or supporting Iraq. Several nations quite publicly refused to do so, and indeed their announcements of that fact almost sounded a bit smug.

Now it turns out that two terrorist attacks have been foiled. The specifics are not being revealed because investigations are continuing, but one important fact was revealed. Six Iraqis have been arrested, foiling two different attacks. All six held Iraqi diplomatic passports.

The individuals, identified as members of the Iraqi Intelligence Service operating under diplomatic cover, were said to still be in the planning stages of attack. According to officials, if executed, the attacks would have caused "serious damage."

In one country, which officials decline to name for fear that they would tip off Iraqi agents under investigation in other cases, Iraqi terrorists had been planning to hit a U.S. embassy. In another country, the Iraqis had not identified a final target, but among its target set were private, non-governmental organizations.

Sources told Fox News that U.S. intelligence officials are "pretty damn certain" that the agents were working directly for Saddam Hussein since they were Iraqi nationals operating with diplomatic cover. They said in some cases, the Iraqi intelligence agents were primary over the Iraqi ambassadors stationed in those countries.

The original American request said that they should be expelled because they represented a threat, and I think many decided that was just American propaganda and paranoia. Now, it seems, it was actual an accurate appraisal.

Of course, this report is quite vague. it will be interesting to see how it develops, such as where this actually happened, and what kind of attacks were actually planned, and what weapons they expected to use. Explosives? Perhaps. Or was it nerve gas or anthrax, smuggled in using a diplomatic pouch?

In the final days before the war, one of Saddam's threats was that if we attacked there would be responses everywhere in the world. This may have been what he was talking about.

What this reinforces is the lesson of Bali: no matter where you are, no matter what nation you're in, it can "happen here." The best way for any nation to become a target is to assume that they're not one. Terrorists will attack where security is poor, and won't care about the stated foreign policy of that nation.