747FOCAL - some good points I was thinking the same thing. Why did he not wait until the a/c was on finals over a built-up area when all the cabin crew and pax are safely seated and belted? From that point of view it looks like 'amateur night' but we can't rule out the possibility that this was Al-Quaeda or related group attempting to retaliate for the war on terror.
The worrying (but not surprising) thing was how easily he got the explosives on board. I don't remember ever passing a sniffer dog at security, not a lot of metal in the device, you can see how easy it could be.
I think the Arab terrorists have realised that it could be prudent to travel under an assumed non-Arab name (he was carrying a British passport in the name of Richard Reid). I also agree however that if you are Arabic looking you should expect more thorough security at airports.
I think that whoever he is this was a very, very close call - designed to coincide with Christmas. I think that this will really harm public confidence in air travel even further. Expect airline shares to fall tomorrow......