The Hiller Instinct: Hiller Instinct: Second London Bombings

Much like the London bombers, time collapsed in London today as the present merged with the past of two weeks ago, likely giving us all a fearful look at our future.

"Absolutely, positively, the suicide bombers will eventually hit the United States," terrorism expert Harvey Kushner said.

You could argue, of course, they already have on 9/11, but those terrorists used airplanes as bombs, not devices in duffel bags.

It's the freedom that comes with our flag that makes us vulnerable. We expect to move without restriction, and resist restraints.

"We don't want to live in a society where there's a police check point every time you enter a public location where people gather," Professor Michael Avery of the National Lawyers Guild said.

So last year when Boston was getting ready for the Democratic National Convention, and the MBTA announced random passenger searches, they were immediately challenged as unconstitutional.

"It's impossible to simply say to your officers go out in a given area and randomly search people without specific instructions. That's improper and it would not be upheld," Mary Cheh of George Washington University Law School said.

Another factor encouraging terrorism here: it works.

The train bombings in Madrid last year influenced an election, and forced Spain to withdraw its troops from Iraq.

The U.S. pulled out of Lebanon in 1983 after a suicide bombing at a military barracks killed 241 marines, and world-wide, suicide bombings are increasing: during the 1980's there were about three per year. In 2003, there were nearly fifty.

Finally, we're continuously exposed to terrorists because they can look just like us, which makes them invisible.

"In fact, most suicide terrorists are socially integrated, quite productive members of their community, much like the London bombers," Professor Robert Page of the University of Chicago said.

After the first bombings in Britain, many Londoners weren't surprised because they expected to be a target of terrorism. After 9/11, our political position has been ‘never again,’ but looking across the Atlantic today, isn't our reality "not if, but when."

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