Dutch Good Example of Anti-Terror Efforts

I can not  believe what I'm reading today. According to MSNBC.com  and CNN.com Dutch authorities are holding two men on allegations of conspiracy to commit a terrorist act and the U.S. authorities...well, not so much. With the same set of facts at their disposal; the Dutch (who have not had a terrorist attack) suspect terrorist attempt while the U.S. (in the midst of tense Ground Zero mosque situation and home to 9/11/01) says that terrorism "is unlikely"...

Here are the circumstances as outlined in several mainstream media outlets...read it, then you decide.

1- cell phones attached to a bottle containing liquid, multiple cell phones and watches taped together, and a knife and box cutter
2- man and his luggage were headed to separate international destinations
3- TSA screeners determined that the items did not pose a threat. No explosives were found.
4- arriving in Chicago from Birmingham, one suspect then checked his luggage on a flight to Washington Dulles airport and then on to Dubai, but did not board the flight himself. Instead, he joined the other suspect for the flight to Amsterdam while his luggage went on to Virginia.

For more details, see the MSNBC. com and the CNN.com articles.

I don't know who is asleep at the switch here...CIA, TSA, DHS, FBI...but they are asleep and they aim to keep the American public asleep, too. By taking the "nothing to see here" approach, they are attempting to lull the public into the false scene of security. Rather then taking the stance that this threat is real, this threat exists, we have to remain vigilant to this real threat opportunity to inform the public, we brush it aside. Nothing to see here.

We have a couple of guys who tape cell phones to bottles, watches taped to cell phones, pack knives and box cutters...and then...and then...send their luggage on a different flight to a different location. All at a time when our nation is polarized in debate over the Ground Zero mosque.

How is this NOT concerning?!  No, the items in question are not dangerous in checked luggage. It is the intent that is the problem. We're so concerned about being anti-this or anti-that, afraid of being seen as "profiling" that we have become ineffective in our domestic preparedness efforts.

How can this be seen as anything other then a surveillance dry run?