Another wolf sighting

This time the hairy beast has been seen in New York. A plot to blow up the Holland Tunnel and flood Lower Manhattan! The bombers are being hunted around the world! The late al-Zarqawi was involved!

New York Senator Charles E. Schumer is on top of it. Whoops, wrong tunnel, for a start. It's the Lincoln Tunnel! (Visions of armoured vehicles racing across town for a second time, sirens wailing....)

But no, the plot, it seems, was caught in its early stages. It never got past the initial brainstorming phase, if it can be called that. "There's no evidence that anything was ever done, no purchase of explosives or even the sending of money," said Schumer.

As far as flooding Manhattan is concerned, Schumer said that the plot was doomed at the start, because the tunnels lie too far underground. "It makes no sense whatsoever," he said. "They don't seem to be the brightest bulbs in the terrorist lot." According to the New York Times article, "[S]ecurity experts...said it was unlikely that even a large bomb could flood the Holland Tunnel [I thought it was the Lincoln Tunnel? --Ed.], which burrows through bedrock below the Hudson River between New York City and Jersey City."

But maybe we can glean a clue from this?

Both Mr. Schumer and Mr. King [New York Congressional Representative and Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security] said that the investigation showed the need for New York City to receive more federal aid, and undermined the argument by Michael Chertoff, the head of the Department of Homeland Security, that federal financing should be directed toward infrastructure improvements and not paying for personnel involved in anti-terrorism efforts.

"This is very draining on New York City's treasury," Mr. King said in a televised interview, referring to the investigation. "Without going into detail, an extraordinary amount of money has been spent by the New York City Police Department on this particular plot."

Anyhow, move on over, Toronto-Miami Axis of Evil. You've got company.