Madrid, Spain ? Bombs left on commuter trains in a busy station in Germany. A plot to blow up tunnels and flood New York City’s financial district. Another to bring down packed commuter airliners flying out of London.

Islamic militants had no shortage of murderous ideas in 2006, but for the first time since before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, a year neared its close without a major attack in the West.

In a wide-ranging analysis, security and intelligence leaders around the world told The Associated Press that their success was due to more than just luck. Far greater human and technological resources, tougher anti-terror laws, a deeper understanding of the homegrown nature of the threat and the hard lessons learned from past failures – all these have all helped avert catastrophe, they said.

But they also cautioned against complacency, saying another attack is inevitable. A senior Spanish intelligence official who recently stepped down as head of a national counter-terror unit warned that the absence of deadly attacks this year does not mean the world should expect similar results in 2007.

Reinforcing the reality that high-casualty terrorism is still a threat, not only in the West, a bomb attack on trains in Mumbai, India, in July killed more than 200 people. India suspects Islamic organizations both at home and in neighboring Pakistan of being behind the bombings.