Empty Hands
Senior Master
The only reason there have not been more bomb attacks on planes is because AQ hasn't wanted to do any.
I disagree. AQ is isolated, under constant attack, and not that competent to begin with. When an AQ sympathizer type has tried to bomb a plane (Underwear dude, Richard Reid, etc.) the attempt has been amateurish and easy to catch. Reid tried to light his shoes with a match, fer cryin' out loud. This incident was an order of magnitude more clever and complex than any attack that alQaeda has attempted. Everything they've tried has been simple, from gunmen at the embassies to a Zodiac packed with explosives to boxcutters on a plane. This was something different.
For that matter, there really is no cohesive alQaeda organization like there used to be. Most of these terror groups who call themselves alQaeda are not in contact with binLaden or his deputies, and take the name alQaeda (in Iraq, in the Arabian Penninsula, etc.) as a branding tactic.