Alleged bin Laden aide arrested in Pakistan

See also here for the story at FoxNews. As I type this, the President is breaking off from his talk on Social Security to express his pleasure at this news. Briefly, the suspect, Abu Farraj al-Libbi, took over as the G-3 of Al-Qaeda after his predecessor, Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, was caught with his pants down, in the company of two houris, and with an unsecured laptop. Mr. al-Libbi was taken in a big gun battle with Pakistani intelligence forces, along with several of his aides.

For those of you who might not remember, the term G-3 means "General Staff Officer in Charge of Operations, Training and Planning." It does not necessarily mean "third in command", though al-Libbi apparently was that, in addition to the staff function he performed.

Two observations:

1. Al-Qaeda can't seem to get its act together. That's the second G-3 they've lost, and worse yet, both men have sung whole areas that would make the Three Tenors envious following their capture. Where is their G-2 (General Staff Officer in Charge of Intelligence, Counterintelligence, and Security)? Where does Al-Qaeda get top men who sing when captured? This is why so many conspiracy theorists think that Al-Qaeda is a George Orwell-style invention of the US government, and an excuse for repression at home and intolerance abroad. But no, I don't believe that. I can't explain why Al-Qaeda has such a blind spot in vetting their key leaders for dedication to the cause, but I can guess: these guys, who sell the concept of honorable suicide as a ticket to the Great Whorehouse in the Sky (that's right, whorehouse!), haven't bought the concept themselves. Well, maybe Osama bin Laden has, but he seems to surround himself with guys who haven't, and whose dedication shatters like glass at the slightest blow.
2. The stories that this guy is now, apparently, telling ought to cut short all the arguments about the terror threat being an illusion--or about Islam being a religion of peace. He has by now admitted to plotting multiple attacks against the US on American soil. Will his capture put an end to the terror? No, but it will slow it down. And in the meantime, maybe we can use this event to take security seriously on our own part.