Meanwhile, terrorists are still out there, still trying to find a gap in all those defenses. When a shoe bomb didn't work, they tried liquid explosives. When those were detected, they tried the underpants bomb. When air travel became difficult, they encouraged a disgruntled Pakistani American to load a station wagon with explosives and drive to Times Square. When passenger scrutiny increased, they shifted to sending packages. And when large-scale attacks became impractical, plans for small-scale attacks began to crop up.
One of these days, one of these plots is going to succeed. It's not unpatriotic or defeatist to say that; it's realistic.
