"Happiness is a moment like today."

Those were the words Sir Bobby Charlton said yesterday when London won the bid for the 2012 Olympics. Indeed, it turned out to be a short-lived moment as elated Londoners were brought crashing down to reality and chaos this morning.

At first, it just seemed like normal disruptions to the London Tube. Even the authorities were puzzled over the initial cause. Then the truth started to filter to the masses. The underground train network was down. The sight of a eviscerated London double-decker bus filled with the injured and dying will probably be all over the papers tomorrow. So far, scattered reports have the death toll at ten dead and hundreds injured but I doubt that would be the end of it. Explosions in a crowded subway at peak hour. Hit the subways, so that people will evacuate by bus then hit the buses. Do the math. This is sheer diabolical evil.

Terrorists? All the signs seem to indicate so; the coordinated attacks point to the handiwork of the Al-Qaeda. The timing of the attack, with the G8 meeting and PM Blair out of the country was coldly calculated. Security was also probably more concentrated at the G8 venue in Scotland, leading to less security personnel in London. I guess that London winning the Olympics bid was more like a bonus for these ruthless masterminds. With the city celebrating, there was bound to be some security lapses. And the bad guys have certainly seized their opportunities.

It goes to show that all the planning and security will never be foolproof. Reports do seem to indicate that the contingency plans were working and that there was no widespread panic. So I think that's the best they could have done. Eternal vigilance may be a good idea but all the terrorists need is one chance. Then the innocent suffer. The faceless, uncertain spectre of terrorism hangs over us all, waiting to remind us. Can we win this war? Not with guns and not with arms. We will probably have to live with it because terrorism is like a hydra with too many heads and I can imagine other groups with other causes emerging like maggots from a corpse.

There's no end in sight; greater minds and hearts have tried.