The common political reaction on our side to this week's news about the apparent foiling of a plot to bomb airplanes has been to assume that it bolsters Bush and the GOP. In fact, the GOP has been trying to use it that way.

But this morning it struck me. THE OPPOSITE IS TRUE.If you look at this week's news from a different angle, Dems now have a powerful argument against the whole premise of the Bush version of the War on Terror, and the Rove spin about how ineffectual the Democrats would be.....It is much more solid than our usual response of "Bush hasn't caught Osama yet"

This week Rove, Bush and their minions have trotted out the usual dog-and-pony show to amp up the fear while taking credit for this latest victory: "See? We told you that there are evil people out there who want to kill us. But the liberals and the Democrats don't believe there is a need for a War on Terrorism. These arrests prove that you need the Republicans to protect you."

One of the favorite memes used by Rove and his echo chamber has been "The Democrats are weak because would treat terrorism merely as a crime. This is foolish because this is a war, and the only way to defeat terrorism is to treat it as a war."

And the Media has been dutifully echoing this by saying it could "change the outcome of the 06 election by handing the Republicans a major advantage. After all, the war on terror has been Bush's major strength."

Welllll, the Democrats now have an easy answer to that. How was this latest bombing plot discovered and (apparently) prevented? IT WAS HANDLED AS A LAW ENFORCEMENT INVESTIGATION AND TREATED AS A CRIME.

If you extend this out, it actually bolsters the position that the most effective way to combat the threat of terrorism is as a crime -- not as a "war." And that focused investigative efforts to stop terrorism are much more effective than behaving like bulls in a china shop.

And furthermore, contrast this apparent success of the criminal approach to terrorism to the total failure of the "war" approach. The administration's military adventures have only made the situation in the Middle East much worse, and it has made the US less safe.

Also, this does not contradict a concern for civil liberties. It does not require the administration to have the authority to overturn our existing rights because we are at "war." Investigations such as those carried out by the Brits do not have to be in contradiction to the Constitutional rights in the US. There is nothing preventing such an investigation by US authorities within the framework of the existing criminal justice system. It is similar to the way the US went after the Mafia.

If the Democratic leadership and the rest of us can hit home this point that the most effective way to combat terrorism as a criminal matter -- not as a "war" -- we could erode the position that the right wing has been successfully pounding into the heads of Americans since 9-11.