Could 7/7 have been prevented?

I recall a lot of indignation last week from the leftist blogs because one of the suspected bombers had not been charged by the Justice Department in 2002.

Now, it seems the UK would not allow the US to arrest a terrorist who came back and bit them.

Haroon Rashid Aswat, 30, of Indian heritage, is currently in custody in Zambia, U.S. and Zambian officials told CNN.

U.S. authorities wanted to capture Aswat, who was then in South Africa, and question him about a 1999 plot to establish a “jihad training camp” in Bly, Oregon.

According to the sources, U.S. officials had located Aswat in South Africa weeks before the July 7 attacks that killed 52 bus and subway travelers and the four bombers.

U.S. authorities had asked South Africa if they could take Aswat into custody. South Africa relayed the request to Britain, but authorities there balked because he was a British citizen, the sources said. While the debate was ongoing, Aswat slipped away. (Full story)

British authorities now suspect Aswat lent support to the July 7 bombers.

I won’t hold my breath waiting for all that indignation to swell up and be repeated.