The current headline on CNN.com reads as follows:
Sources: Plane plotters told 'Do your attacks now'
According to CNN...this is from a DHS source, not British Authorities.
I am sure we will now hear the outrage of the conservative wing about how dangerous and treasonous the Administration is due to their tendency to give out critical details of our allies intelligence, which potentially could expose valuable sources and methods, right?
Surely, this is much more dangerous than an article about a financial program with a website on the internet...more below the fold
While Republicans like Sen. Rick Santorum
continue the crusade against their New York Times, I assume real intelligence agents are scratching their heads wondering "what in the world is wrong with these people?".
As peraspera noted in a previous thread, not only did this leak let the members of this conspiracy know that authorities were intercepting their conversations and/or messages, they also told the world exactly how they did it!!!
Suspects in an alleged plot to blow up trans-Atlantic flights received a message within the last three days in which they were advised, "Do your attacks now," according to U.S. sources.
The message, which was intercepted and decoded, was part of the reason authorities in Britain decided that an attack was imminent, possibly just a few days to a week away, according to a U.S. Department of Homeland Security memo.
Great...so as members of Al Qaeda run out to find the latest and greatest encryption software, our signal intelligence agencies must start from scratch due to some knucklehead in DHS desparate to get brownie points with the media, or score political points for the Administration.
Now, I am not an intelligence officer, nor do I play one on TV. But I would assume there is drastic difference between saying "We were tipped off", which would leave the culprits guessing, versus revealing exact sources and methods by saying "Hey, look at the cool message we decoded at 1am on Aug 9" But then again, what do I know. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong.
And to make matters worse, this is becoming a very dangerous habit for this administration...
The unannounced capture of a figure from Al Qaeda in Pakistan several weeks ago led the Central Intelligence Agency to the rich lode of information that prompted the terror alert on Sunday, according to senior American officials.
The figure, Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan, was described by a Pakistani intelligence official as a 25-year-old computer engineer, arrested July 13, who had used and helped to operate a secret Qaeda communications system where information was transferred via coded messages.
A senior United States official would not confirm or deny that Mr. Khan had been the Qaeda figure whose capture led to the information. But the official said ''documentary evidence'' found after the capture had demonstrated in extraordinary detail that Qaeda members had for years conducted sophisticated and extensive reconnaissance of the financial institutions cited in the warnings on Sunday.
So, not only does the Administration like revealing methods, they are also willing to expose Al Qaeda moles, if it serves there political purposes.
So as the Right Wing Noise Machine continues to project their own parties shortcomings, Americans need to once again ask themselves, do you trust the most incompetent Administration in American history with your ongoing safety.
Day after day, the answer becomes more resounding.