Also reply to http://www.911blogger.com/node/22260#comment-224913. Thanks, good points from you, too.

I do think that managers in CIA, FBI, DHS, TSA responsible for this inside operation - letting known radical banned in Britain board a plane with a defective bomb - should be reassigned immediately. Any such consequences never happened after 9/11, as far as I know.

Now to the desired effects and reasons behind this latest inside operation. As you say, they might be to introduce new, additional police state security measures and install new equipment to further harass air travelers.

I think further reasons might also be
1. to remind people, to keep population in apprehension, or outright fear, of terror.
2. to get to Pres Obama, to express irritation with his policies, to be able to say - he is not "protecting Americans well enough"
3. some agencies inside political infighting. A palpable friction lately came out between Cia/Dir Panetta and National Intel Council/ Dir Blair
3. simple pretext for further conflict, as Sen Lieberman already called for preemptive strikes on Yemen
4. implied message that the next time, bomb might actually work
5. all of the above

I do not believe for a second this was an honest mistake, because in that case it'd be a fundamental failure of purpose. And we have seen that before, in much more malign and devastating form.

It is urgent and important that the true nature of 9/11 controlled demolition attacks come out and investigation be started.

ps
now if I was in, say, Iran, I wouldn't be writing this :] ... But yes, Iran currently is being destabilized from outside.