Thursday morning, May 6, three bombs detonated by timer and caused extensive damage to an Athens police station. No one was killed, and the bomber called a newspaper ten minutes before the bombing to warn authorities of the impending explosion.

No one has claimed responsibility, but immediate suspicion fell on the radical leftist November 17 organization (which has been decimated by arrests in the last year.)

With the Olympics coming this summer (starting exactly 100 days after the blast), Greece has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on security. Greek politicians, unsurprisingly, insist that the recent bombing was a minor affair unrelated to the Olympics.

Another possibility is that these attacks were a trial run for a mega-terror attack during the Olympics. The closely timed explosions are a modus operandi of al-Qaeda. Greece is next to Turkey, which just averted a major attack on the upcoming NATO summit by terrorists affiliated with al-Qaeda. It cannot be sufficiently emphasized that al-Qaeda operatives plan meticulously. In his testimony, Ahmed Ressam, who plotted to attack LAX in December 1999 (only to be caught crossing into the US from Canada) discussed how he would reconnoiter the airport. He planned to abandon bags and observe how airport authorities handled the situation. Other al-Qaeda attacks incorporated similar preparations.

For an attack on such a massive high profile target, a more complicated probe of local security could be a good investment. While detonating bombs may leave clues for the police - valuable intelligence could also be produced by the detonation. Also, if it was al-Qaeda, then the warning to the newspaper was brilliant because it is not a regular al-Qaeda procedure and may throw local security off of al-Qaeda's scent.

Bin Laden has offered gold to anyone killing Americans or American allies. But for a skilled manipulator of the media he made a real error. Did he really think he would get any attention on the night of the final episode of Friends. It was a top-rated show for a decade. Bin Laden has been a top series for less than three years.

As interested as we all are in the ongoing adventures of Osama, Ayman, Zarqawi et al - they just are not as close to us as Ross, Rachel, Monica, Chandler, Phoebe, and Joey. Maybe they should pick up Jennifer Aniston or Lisa Kudrow - a little diversity in their heavy-bearded brooding cast couldn't hurt their ratings.

We can keep enjoying Friends and its imaginary New York where 9/11 never happened. But let's hope Osama & Pals doesn't last so long, the sooner it is cancelled the better.

President Bush will apologize on Arab television for the mistreatment of Iraqi detainees by US troops. Hopefully a full investigation will result in key people being drummed out of the service. Unfortunately these moves will do little to ameliorate anti-US sentiment in the Arab world. While Israel conducted a thorough investigation into the Sabra and Shattilla massacres in 1982 (which effectively damned Israeli commanders for negligence), these investigations were not given any credence in the Arab world. The fact that then Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon and then Israeli Chief of Staff Gen. Rafael Eitan were forced to resign meant nothing to that audience. Furthermore, in that case, the actual perpetrators, Lebanese militiamen, were never held accountable.

The actual cruelties of the US servicepeople are dwarfed in comparison to the monstrous viciousness of almost all of the Arab regimes, where brutality is a systematic norm - not an aberration. But more importantly, the American excesses are a mere shadow of what most of the Arab world assumes the United States does. In the hall of funhouse mirrors that passes for discourse in much of the Arab world, the facts will only buttress vast conspiracy theories.

Regardless, the United States must hold itself to the highest standard. First a few careers be ruined, this is the strongest deterrent to future misconduct. Then training and procedures must be improved. Apparently, much of the misconduct occurred because the units were below strength, without clear orders, and most importantly conducting a mission for which they were not trained.

It is not a unique story in the history of warfare, nonetheless the situation must be made right. To paraphrase the eminent Prof. Bernard Lewis - every society has mistreated women, made some into slaves, and oppressed minorities. Western civilization stands out because of its attempts to rectify the situation.

This is our strength - and ultimately what we are fighting for.

This morning's edition of the Washington Times has a picture of the Governator (California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger - for those Rip van Winkles who suddenly woke up and logged onto this website) chatting with Jordan's King Abdullah.

It has been a productive trip - the Governator opened a Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem and met with US troops in Germany, some recovering from wounds received in Iraq. But, as my wife noted, the Governator's talents are wasted chatting with pro-American Abdullah. She proposed the foreign leader he might really have an impact on is film-loving, super-strange Kim Jong Il of North Korea. Getting the rid or North Korea's nukes - one way or another - is a more fitting job for the Last Action Hero.