December 11, 2007: As in so many other countries, the proliferation of cell phone use has proved disastrous for the terrorists. In the last seven years, the number of cell phone users in Algeria has gone from 54,000 to 25 million. That means 75 percent of the adult population has a cell phone, and you can get a signal in many rural areas, as well as nearly all urban ones. As was the case in Iraq, once a cell phone using population turns against the terrorists, the timely reports to police greatly increase, making it much more difficult for terrorists to move around undetected. Meanwhile, the terrorists favorite communications tool, the Internet, is not as widely established, with only four million users in Algeria.

December 9, 2007: For the second time this year, Islamic terrorists attacked foreign (Russian) technicians at a natural gas facility west of the capital. But the two roadside bombs misfired, and no one was injured.

December 6, 2007: Terrorist activity took a sharp drop in November, when only six people (four civilians and two terrorists) were killed. In October, terrorist activity left sixty dead. The new "Al Qaeda in North Africa" began the year threatening a renewed war against the Algerian government. But it all turned out to be more wishful thinking than anything else. There are still a few Islamic terrorists out and about, but they spend most of their time trying to avoid getting caught.

December 5, 2007: East of the capital, a group of terrorists attacked a bus carrying military personnel, but were driven off by troops.