THE TERROR BEAT - CONT'D - AT 8:18 P.M. ET:  We've been following the major terror investigation centered in New York and Colorado, but there are new developments in other apparent conspiracies:

Federal authorities arrested a 19-year-old Jordanian citizen whom they said placed an inactive car bomb today at Fountain Place, a 60-story skyscraper in downtown Dallas.

Hosam Maher Husein Smadi has repeatedly voiced his intent to serve Osama bin Laden and al-Qa’ida and commit “violent Jihad,” authorities said in a prepared statement...

...Authorities said that Smadi was under continuous FBI surveillance. Federal agents posed as members of an al-Qa’ida sleeper cell. Smadi, who was in the U.S. illegally, allegedly told them that he came to the country specifically to commit “Jihad for the sake of God.”

And there's this, in Illinois:

WASHINGTON, Sept 24 (Reuters) - An Illinois man was ordered held on Thursday on charges he tried to blow up a federal building in the state capital, a case unrelated to the New York terrorism plot.

Michael Finton, also known as Talib Islam, was arrested in Springfield, Illinois, and charged with attempted murder of federal officers or employees and trying to use a weapon of mass destruction, charges that carry a life sentence.

"Fortunately, a coordinated undercover law enforcement effort was able to thwart his efforts and ensure no one was harmed," David Kris, assistant Attorney General for National Security, said in a statement.

Finton was arrested on Wednesday in Springfield as he used a cell phone to try to detonate the bomb he believed was inside a van he had just parked outside the federal building.

COMMENT:  That's three plots broken up within a week.  But we are fighting the law of averages.  We should be grateful that we have excellence in law enforcement, and that some of our enemies are incompetent.  But sooner or later, luck runs out. 

We cannot, with integrity, link these plots directly to the appeasement policies of the president.  But certainly Mr. Obama's lack of resolve and focus increases the morale of those who would harm us.

September 24, 2009