Um Guys. . .

So the media is freaking out over the idea that Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups are planning to use body bombs, wherein the explosives are implanted into the body of the suicide bomber.  My first reaction to the news: Its good to want things.  Look, I want to be a billionaire, own the Padres (the concessions at Petco would be totally kickass if I ran things), and have Obama learn basic negotiating skills, but it ain't gonna happen. 

Similarly, Al Qaeda isn't going to start implanting bombs in the bodies of suicide bombers.  You know how I know?  Because Al Qaeda took down four airplanes with box cutters.  The bombs used against the troops in Iraq/Afghanistan are called IED's - an acronym for "improvised explosive device."  In other words, these guys are decidedly low tech.  And bomb implants are decidedly high tech.  You know how else I know Al Qaeda isn't going to try bomb implants?  Because Hamas hasn't used bomb implants.  Ever.

And seriously, without guys like Osama bin Laden, there isn't a whole lot of desire to attack the U.S. heartland anymore.  Keep in mind that we're really, really, really far from the Muslim world. So, any attack on the U.S. is going to be a lot more expensive than say, attacking Europe, or anywhere in the Muslim world.  And given that groups like Al Qaeda have limited resources - people, money, etc. - they're going to want more bang for their buck.  What made Osama bin Laden so dangerous was that he was committed to bringing terrorism to the U.S.  But even then, Al Qaeda managed to successfully attack the United States once.  Granted it was a big attack, but the U.S. is a target-rich environment, and there should have been more.  Nope, because its so expensive to attack the US, any attack has to be worth it.  Human bombs aren't going to be big enough.

So let's chill out people.  Al Qaeda isn't going to use human bombs anytime soon.