UPDATE: Per CBS, only one death. Per Blackfive, a private communication that states that the Parliament is not in the Green Zone. Most of the following still holds true. It was a very poor terror attack, and did not achieve its goals.

al Qaeda is sending a message. At least that’s the headline on Time Magazine’s web site. I suppose we’re to deduce that the minions of bin Laden are telling us that they can strike any time and any place.

What do these murders tell us? The main thing is that it is damn difficult to stage an attack inside the Green Zone. This sort of thing is so rare it is unique. al Qaeda got lucky once.

That’s the nature of terrorism. The good guys have to be lucky every single time. The terrorists only have to be lucky once.

Eight are dead at this point, including the bomber himself. Hardly a staggering total. As terror attacks go, this was pretty pitiful. I can only imagine the planning and man hours that went in to this and the result is eight dead.

The resulting search for answers will disrupt any other plans that may be in existence. Operatives that took time to place will be outed. Routines will change. Predictable will become unpredictable.

The pundits are moaning that this is the finish for the surge. That Iraqis will abandon their support of their elected government. Huh? If they did none of this when the attacks killed dozens, why would this sorry excuse for terror make them change their minds?

This is just another set of murders by folks that we are routinely hunting down and killing. al Qaeda is on the run. They played a trump card in this attack for chump change. If they could have done better, they would have.