Continuing to Deny the Obvious

Ah, the Caribbean, where there's an endless supply of sand to bury your head in.

Caribbean has greater dangers than radical Islam

Keep dismissing the threat, then demand answers when a plot does come to fruition.

An alleged plot to blow up New York's main airport has sparked fears about militant Islam in the Caribbean but experts say the region's main security risks remain drug gangs and smuggling rackets.

U.S. authorities said on Saturday they had charged four men of Guyanese and Trinidadian origin of plotting to blow up fuel installations at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

U.S. officials and commentators have pondered whether the Caribbean, more commonly associated with fine rums and cricket on the beach, was now an overlooked Afghanistan, teeming with Islamic radicals plotting attacks against U.S. interests.

Muslim leaders and analysts in the region insist the New York plot, if ultimately proved, would be nothing more than an isolated scheme planned by highly unprofessional conspirators.

"The main cross border concerns continue to be drug running, financial crime and people trafficking," said Chris Zambelis, Caribbean expert at the Jamestown Foundation in Washington.

"There is still no evidence of anything emerging that requires more forceful action," he said when asked about the growth of radical Islam.

It never seems to occur to the experts that part of the plotting is to appear disorganized or hapless.