A tricky balance-part 1
It was luck allied to perceptive observation that prevented a massacre from the Haymarket bomb near the Tiger Tiger nightclub at the weekend. A young man fell over and hurt his head. An ambulance was called. The ambulance crew spotted the smoking Mercedes containing the bombs. That led to the police being able to prevent the planned carnage. Both those who believe in Providence, and those who believe in the random and fickle process of chance leading to cause and effect, could feel equally confirmed in their view of life by that series of events. A less sharp eyed crew and the weekend might have been spent counting the bodies and assessing the consequences.
^ TOPSooner or later
Sooner or later a terrorist attack of this sort is bound to succeed, causing carnage. How the response to that is handled will be a defining moment in our society.
Complacent hindsight-based comment can always criticise. If the intelligence services did not know of a threat they should have done. (If a footballer has a 99% successful rate of passing or shooting in a game, his performance is regarded as flawless. An intelligence agency which does the same can be regarded as incompetent). If they do know they should have prevented it, although quite how without locking up or otherwise disposing of every potential suspect is never quite explained. If the government gives warnings of potential attacks it is likely to be accused of exploiting fear to justify draconian extensions of its powers, or causing panic. If it does not then it is criticised because it failed to give due warnings.
^ TOPFanatics
The basic equation is fairly simple. We have a democratic and generally free society in which we wish to protect. To paraphrase an earlier comment from the Vietnam war, in the other corner there are vicious fanatics who wish to bomb the West into the stone age, where doubtless they would feel more at home.
The consequences are more complex. The defining characteristic of the bombers is that they are fanatics. They will be untroubled by the religion of their victims, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, as long as their aims are achieved. Isolating these people within the Muslim community, and doing so in such a way as to avoid public perception of all Muslims being defined by the activities of the lunatic fringe, will be an important component in attempting to keep a democratic society in which different faiths live in harmony. Not actively addressing this issue will not cause the problem to go away. Struggles are won by hearts and minds and persuasion, as well as force and detective work.
^ TOPA free society
At the same time a careful check must be made of how best to respond and how to make that response compatible with a free society. It is a pyrrhic victory if liberty is undone by the draconian response to a terror threat. At the same time that endgame is more likely to come about if we do not immediately actively seek take steps which allow us to effectively combat the threat. It is a difficult and fine line to walk. However we will be undermining liberty just as much by refusing to acknowledge that some changes must be made in response to that threat, as we will be if we just say that what the intelligence services and police want they should get. In a strong gale the bough that bends a little is the one that is unlikely to break.