Were Akayed Ullah a more accomplished suicide bomber, we might today be writing about the horrible repercussions of mass casualties in New York City’s subway just days before Christmas. Fortunately, Ullah’s makeshift bomb failed to fully detonate; he was most seriously injured in his own attack.

“I did it for Islamic State,” Ullah reportedly told investigators.

You may ask: What remains of Islamic State?

In recent weeks the U.S. and its partners have crushed the last remnants of Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria. The terrorists’ dream of an empire lies in shambles.

We had hoped that the defeat of Islamic State on the battlefield would demolish the group’s recruiting appeal. Unfortunately not. Its violent message still inspires willing wannabes via cyberspace. One British counterterrorism official warns that there is “incitement to attack through the internet, 24/7.”

There’s much more work to be done before the U.S. can declare VI Day.

The recent subway tunnel bombing was the third terrorist attack in New York City in about 15 months. Truck attacks, suicide bombings — more common in European capitals and the Middle East — are now moving up the list of potential threats to U.S. cities.

Two reasons:

These attacks take little expertise, planning or money.

They’re nearly impossible for law enforcement to detect and thwart.

Eradicating Islamic State on the military battlefield may prove easier than expunging its call to arms on the internet. Cyberspace’s borders are infinite; authorities may play whack-a-mole against websites that hoist the banner of hate.

In a related security issue, President Donald Trump, like his predecessor, seeks to bolster America’s prowess on the electronic battlefield — not just against Islamic State but all terror groups. This includes eavesdropping on terrorist phone calls overseas, sweeping up emails and texts. The law that allows such surveillance, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Amendments Act, expires at year’s end. We urge Congress to renew it without delay.

Terror groups change tactics to evade law enforcement. America can’t holster any of its anti-terror weapons. A terrible thought: The next bomber, in New York or another American city, may not be so inept.

—Chicago Tribune

Republicans on Capitol Hill have a new sense of urgency to pass their tax plan now that the slim GOP Senate majority will get even slimmer with Democrat Doug Jones’ election in Alabama. They appear to have negotiated all the main points of contention, and a deal is imminent. Even aside from the balance-tipping potential of Jones’ election, the question remains: Why hurry something so important?

Tuesday’s GOP defeat in Alabama should be warning enough that mainstream Americans aren’t happy with the country’s direction. The latest Quinnipiac poll, taken before the Alabama election, found that only 29 percent of respondents support the GOP tax plan.

Almost two-thirds believe the tax bill benefits the wealthy, and only a quarter see it as a plus for the middle class. President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans can’t hide the unfairness of this bill, yet they insist on barreling forward.

Part of their rationale for the rush is the concocted notion that the economy needs a boost. It doesn’t. The nation effectively is at full employment. Corporations are flush with cash. The Federal Reserve is so concerned about inflation it has elected three times this year to increase interest rates, including a hike on Wednesday.

Fed governors have reason to worry that the short-term effect of a tax cut on an already healthy economy would be to overheat it, so they’re deliberately moving to slow down the pace of growth. But it’s the accelerated growth rate that congressional Republicans are forecasting to replenish government coffers from the tax cut. They were unlikely to reach their growth goals, anyway, particularly if the Fed stands in their way, which it will.

President Donald Trump, whose approval rating is now down to 32 percent in a new poll, is driving the rushed pace of getting this tax bill approved before Christmas. The contract that Trump presented to his supporters in 2016 is spelled out in the GOP platform. Yes, it calls for tax cuts. But the platform places a higher priority on fiscal discipline and balancing the budget.

“The federal fiscal burden threatens the security, liberty and independence of our nation,” the platform warns, citing the $19 trillion national debt that existed in November 2016.

This tax plan would add another $1 trillion to the debt and reward the GOP’s preferred group of wealthy individuals and corporations. It directly violates the GOP’s contract with its voters.

Polls show that Americans are growing more, not less, skeptical of Republican leadership. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., is biased on the matter. But his warnings are prescient: “There will be many more Alabamas in 2018” if the GOP proceeds on this reckless path. “Many more.”