British counter-terror officials have foiled an al Qaeda attempt at a Sept. 11-style attack in London, according to a British T.V. network:

"This is the story of what could have been a nightmare averted," said ITV's political editor Nick Robinson. "A story not of failure, but of success.

"That, at least, is what I am told by a senior authoritative source who says that the security services managed to avert a plot to fly planes into Canary Wharf here, and also into Heathrow Airport," he said.

What few details there are, are sketchy. But stories like this can't do much to encourage al Qaeda recruits.