Requiem for a Thought

If you are going to look at the pure numbers, then sure more could be done. However if you look at what they hit it's probably one of the most effective targets. Crippling an urban city's mass transit will have huge effects on the economy. More importantly it will instill fear into those that use the system. In addition now others that live in Paris, Moscow, Tokyo and other massive cities that dot the globe will realize just how vunerable they are. Such transit systems can not have the same security as airports or delays would be not be manageable. 8 million people ride the subways in New York City per day. You are telling me that this morning they all rode with the same peace of mind as before the attacks? I hardly think that.
 

I think I should have been clearer in my original post. I didn’t mean to suggest that simply because the numbers of dead were relatively low the incident shouldn’t been seen as a major or memorable attack. (And let me also say that deaths in any number are tragic.) But in neither death NOR scope of incident can the attack be seen as successful in any other respect than that it actually happened.

Generally, I agree with your premise that mass transit is a "good" target for terrorists because of the crippling effect (economically, physically, and psychologically) that it may have. However, I don't think this attack qualifies in any of those categories.

First, the four explosions have hardly crippled "the tube." According to the BBC, most of London's mass transit system (including the buses and trains) is back up and running 48 hours after the attack. The routes and stations currently under repair are expected to be open in only a couple of days.

Second, I haven't read any instances of Britons cowering in fear after the attack. In fact, the reporting coming out of London seems to suggest that, aside from the understandable fear associated with any unexpected incident, especially when there are deaths involved, Londoners are handling the incident with as much courage as New Yorkers and Pentagon workers mustered on 9/11. Of course many citizens across the world sat a little closer to the edge of their subway seats today, but they were in their seats nonetheless.

Third, the economic effects of the terrorist attack are negligible. Every major UK index as well as the DOW and Nasdaq were up today. So aside from the millions of pounds lost from workers not arriving at the office on time because their fellow Londoners were cowardly murdered by Islamic terrorists, the economic impact has yet to be seen.