From New York Post:

THE CYANIDE PLOT

June 20, 2006 -- New Yorkers who have grown complacent over terror threats got a sobering reminder last weekend, as news broke that al Qaeda had plotted a cyanide-gas attack on the city's subways.

Local and federal officials confirm what Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind reports in his new book: In 2003, New York came within a few weeks of an attack. Saudi al Qaeda terrorists had scouted locations and were set to unleash the deadly gas on crowded subway trains.

Just 45 days before the attack was to take place, Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, suddenly called it off. His reasons remain unclear - although he may have been concerned that killing thousands wasn't a big enough followup to 9/11.

Consider just how close a call this was: As Sen. Charles Schumer noted, "When it comes to cyanide, we don't have much that can detect it; the best way is putting extra personnel on the subway."

The lesson? The jihadists are capable of some pretty sick sabotage - on U.S. soil. And no one should think they won't keep trying to bring America to its knees.

Indeed, even a partly successful subway attack could have a huge, longterm economic impact. (Recall that last December's transit strike cost the city economy more than $1 billion.)

The story's also a reminder that New York - a symbol of U.S. financial power - remains a favorite al Qaeda target.

In recent years, reports of terrorist threats against the city have been met with skepticism. Yet according to Rep. Peter King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly yesterday "laid out 17 attacks or attempted attacks against New York that we know about."

And the threat doesn't come exclusively from abroad: Increasingly, home-grown jihadists, inspired by radical clerics and others, have plotted their own terrorist attacks without overt help or training from al Qaeda.

What's to be done? As Schumer and King note, this latest report underscores the need for full funding of the city's homeland-security efforts. New York must receive adequate funds to mount a vigorous defense against such attacks before they take place.

Such plots in New York's own backyard also reinforce the need for the kind of measures opposed by the civil-liberties crowd - including intensive searches of bus and subway passengers and warrantless surveillance of suspected terrorists. In other words, give wide latitude to law enforcement, so it can stop terrorists before they strike.

New Yorkers have been given an eye-opening reminder that another 9/11 remains frighteningly possible. Maximum vigilance is the best defense.