AT FIRST GLANCE, the bomb conspiracy in London and Glasgow might be seen as a protest against the British knighthood awarded to the novelist Salman Rushdie. The Rushdie honor elicited violent threats from Pakistan, the place of origin of many British Muslims and perhaps the least stable of the major Muslim countries aside from Iraq. Suspects in this latest incident have been described as “South Asian,” meaning they could come from Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, or Bangladesh.

But there are of course other possible motivations and considerations–in addition to the underlying desire of al Qaeda types to kill British civilians whenever and wherever possible. The attack on Glasgow airport seems odd, but incoming prime minister Gordon Brown is from Glasgow. The terrorists might have intended action in Scotland as a direct warning to Brown, as well as an aggravation of political uncertainty during the transition. The aim would be similar to that in the Madrid metro atrocity of 2004: put a definitive end to Tony Blair’s foreign policy by getting British troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan.