No one can fail to be alarmed at the recent terrorism attempts against Glasgow Airport and a number of London night spots. It was only by very good fortune that the car bombs failed to explode and the attack at Glasgow was stopped at the last moment. Even more alarming are the reports that some of the people involved are foreign doctors who have attempted to gain entry to Australia to work in our hospitals.

Some people have implied that the terrorists were inept because the bombs did not work. It would have been a different story if they had exploded, as they could normally have been expected to. Then the terrorists would have been regarded as successful, of course. After all, the car bombs used the same methodology as has been used with monotonous regularity in Iraq and other parts of the world. So people in the UK have been truly fortunate.

The good fortune was extended because the unexploded car bombs revealed a great deal of forensic information, especially from the mobile phones which were to be used as the triggers. It turns out that the phones were rung several times by the bombers, to trigger the explosions. All of this information and a great deal more has been gleaned from the phones, including some of the links to Australia.

Even if the bombs had gone off, it is likely that the authorities would have been able to retrieve the SIM cards in the mobile phones and their investigation would have progressed rapidly from that point, as phone call and SMS message records on them were all linked up. And even without the phones, the authorities would have been able to make quite a few connections back to the bombers via the vast number of CCTV cameras which are used throughout London. Not only would these cameras have been used to reconstruct the bombers’ car journeys to their final destinations but many of these cameras would also have number plate recognition to make the job easier.

Even so, it would presumably have been a monumental task even with the assistance of sophisticated computer technology. No doubt face recognition technology would also have been used as well, so ultimately, the terrible web woven by these evil people would have been unravelled.

In case you are wondering, while not in the same quantities as in London and other major cities worldwide, there are now considerable numbers of CCTV cameras employed around major Australian cities. You would hope that, with the strong connections that Australian anti-terrorist authorities have back to the UK, they could be used to detect or unravel a terrorist attack here as well. It seems likely that an attempt could be made at some time in this country. Let us all hope that no attempts are made.

Lest anyone rest easy that the authorities are on top of terrorists, nothing can be further from the truth. Would-be terrorists can be expected to learn from past mistakes and they are likely to take more precautions against any detective efforts after their attempts. If you want evidence of that, one only has to see how people robbing auto teller machines have adopted masks and other measures to prevent identification from the inevitable camera surveillance. Terrorists will do the same.

As one who finds the increasing camera surveillance throughout our cities and on the roads disquieting and a challenge to individual liberties and privacy, I have to admit that this "big brother" technology can have a good side if it prevents the carnage that occurs when terrorist attacks are successful.

Leo Simpson