The Inquirer's Jennifer Moroz has a good writeup of the Canadian terror plot, noting that many Canadians behaved the same way their neighbors to the south are behaving -- with an "it can't happen here" attitude:

Federal officials told them they were a target.

So did Osama bin Laden.

But Alicia Allison didn't really believe it. The 26-year-old hairstylist from Toronto still has trouble with the concept.

"I can't understand why anyone would want to hurt us," she said.

Let alone fellow countrymen.

Like many other Canadians, Allison is trying to absorb the news that federal authorities this weekend arrested 17 people - mostly young men, all Canadian residents, and several born in Toronto - on charges of terrorism. They were allegedly plotting to storm Parliament, take hostages, behead the prime minister, and bomb undisclosed targets in Ontario, home to Toronto, the nation's largest city, and Ottawa, its capital.

How could this happen? Why?

It's not an easy thing to swallow for a country that has a reputation as a peaceful nation.

This week, many of those citizens were taking a hard look at how their own way of life might have contributed to the threat.

"There are a lot of Canadians who are a little disassociated from the crueler realities of the world," said John Thompson, president of the Mackenzie Institute, a Toronto think tank that studies terrorism and political instability. "They still have a view of us as a Boy Scout nation.

"They think our army is an army of peacekeepers, the world loves us, thank God we're not with the Americans - inane thoughts. Those who do hold this opinion have just been hit with a bucket of cold water."

Up until this weekend, many people believed that any extremists living in Canada were simply here to stage attacks on the United States, said Martin Rudner, director of the Canadian Centre of Intelligence and Security Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa.

Rudner continues:

"A major lesson has been learned here," he said.

Others, including Canadian officials, think the nation's military role in Afghanistan has inspired hostility.

Neil Sochasky is one of them.

"I think Canada has been implicit in a lot of things the U.S. has done to cause animosity across the world," said the 26-year-old dancer, massage artist and Starbucks barista.

"I'm surprised it's taken this long for something like this to arise in Canada."

Whatever happened to concerns over basic survival? Why would self-sufficient people here or in Canada exhibit such an obvious deer-caught-the-headlights mentality? Don't they know that such attitudes -- and denial -- are precisely the kind of thing that draws predators?

Glenn Reynolds links to this citation of a Chicago Tribune editorial:

The lack of any significant North American attack since Sept. 11, 2001, has lulled many Americans into thinking that preparedness, vigilance and resolve are yesterday's necessities. This Canadian case demonstrates the constant nature of the threat facing the U.S. and its allies--and the constant effort needed to preempt it.

Ready as many of us are to condemn government agencies that fumble terror investigations, we tend to fall silent when investigators do foil deadly plots.

If Canadian officials are correct, and if the FBI is right in saying two Georgia men met with some of the Canadians to assess bombing targets, then this takedown is a superb coup.

The lesson in this case for Americans: Yes, it's tempting to yearn for the doe-eyed simplicity of Sept. 10, 2001. Provided we accept the fact that it isn't coming back.

Sigh.

(And that's not a sigh of relief!)