What's more important? Gathering real intelligence about real terrorists, or boosting Bush's image in the run-up to elections? Is it worth exposing the name of a valuable undercover agent to help ensure four more years in the White House? You bet it is!
"The revelation that a mole within al Qaeda was exposed after Washington launched its "orange alert" this month has shocked security experts, who say the outing of the source may have set back the war on terror.
Reuters learned from Pakistani intelligence sources on Friday that computer expert Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan, arrested secretly in July, was working under cover to help the authorities track down al Qaeda militants in Britain and the United States when his name appeared in U.S. newspapers."
The day after Khan's identity was exposed, British security forces raced around the country trying to arrest suspects Khan had identified. The arrests included daylight raids and high-speed car chases.
"Washington has portrayed those arrests as a major success," says Reuters, but British intelligence experts are outraged.
"The whole thing smacks of either incompetence or worse," said Tim Ripley, a security expert who writes for Jane's Defense publications. "You have to ask: what are they doing compromising a deep mole within al Qaeda, when it's so difficult to get these guys in there in the first place? It goes against all the rules of counter-espionage, counter-terrorism, running agents and so forth. It's not exactly cloak and dagger undercover work if it's on the front pages every time there's a development, is it?"
But today Bush urged US voters not to lose their resolve:
"We're doing everything we can in our power to confront the danger... We're making good progress... We're still not safe."
Bush is presently in Maine, doing some fishing and attending a beach-side wedding.
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