Yet another name leaked

From americanprogressaction.org

Destroying a Key Source

Last week, U.S. officials revealed their major terror warning -- timed
one week after the Democratic National Convention -- was based on old
information
(http://www.americanprogressaction.org/site/pp.asp?c=klLWJcP7H&b=133479#2)
. Now, it appears that the Bush administration was so eager to reap
political gain from the war on terror, it exposed an undercover al Qaeda
mole who was providing authorities with key leads to nab the terrorist
group's top leadership. According to MSNBC, Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan,
the suspect whose computer information led to the recent increased terror
warning level, "had been actively cooperating with intelligence agents
(http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/080804Z.shtml) to help catch al-Qaida
operatives." The Bush administration told reporters Khan was the source
of the information that led to the terror alert level being raised. "By
exposing the only deep mole we've ever had within al Qaeda, it ruined
the chance (http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/8/7/221841.shtml)
to capture dozens if not hundreds more," said former Justice Department
prosecutor John Loftus. All told, more than a third of Americans
(http://www.time.com/time/election2004/article/0,18471,678367,00.html)
now believe the Bush administration would use terror warnings for its
own political gain.



RICE ADMITS THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION LEAKED: On CNN's Late Edition,
National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice admitted it was the Bush
administration (http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0408/08/le.00.html) -- not
career intelligence officers -- who opted to leak Khan's name. Rice tried
to defend the White House by saying they only disclosed the name "on
background." When Sen. George Allen (R-VA) tried to spin the leak later
in the show, CNN's Wolf Blitzer reminded him that Rice "confirmed that
on background" the administration "did release the name of this Muhammad
Naeem Noor Khan." See more American Progress analysis of current
Administration terrorism policies here
(http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=12359) .



DISCLOSURE VIOLATES JUSTICE DEPT'S OWN POSITION: The Bush
administration's deliberate disclosure of Khan's name directly violated the Justice
Department's own stated position on such matters. In the Supreme Court
case (http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/01/12/scotus.terrorism.secrecy/) in
which the department tried to keep detainee names secret, its top
terrorism prosecutor filed an affidavit
(http://www.cnss.org/dojreynoldsdeclaration.htm) outlining the
administration's opposition to such disclosure. In the affidavit, the
administration said disclosing names of those "who may be revealed to have
knowledge of or a connection to terrorism could lead to the public
identification of individuals associated with them" and that "divulging the
detainees' identities may deter them from cooperating with the Department
of Justice." The affidavit also said such disclosures "could allow
terrorist organizations and others to interfere with the pending proceedings
by creating false or misleading evidence."



KHAN'S OUTING MAY HAVE HAMPERED BRITISH INVESTIGATION: MSNBC reported
that, "In addition to ending the Pakistani sting, the premature
disclosure of Khan's identity may have affected a major British operation in
which 12 suspects were arrested in raids this week." The London Telegraph
reported, "British intelligence officials said American leaks had left
them scrambling
(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/08/09/wterr09.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/08/09/ixnewstop.html)
to pick up Khan's British-based contacts."



BRITS AND PAKISTANIS ARE OUTRAGED: The New York Daily News reports,
"British and Pakistani intelligence officials are furious
(http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/219869p-188947c.html) " with the
Bush administration "for unmasking their super spy - apparently to
justify the orange alert - and for naming the other captured terrorist
suspects." Pakistani Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayyat "expressed
dismay the trap they had hoped would lead to the capture of other top Al
Qaeda leaders, possibly even Osama Bin Laden, was sprung too soon."
Pakistan, of course, had been under intense pressure
(http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=109694#1) by
the Bush administration to produce "high value terrorist targets"
during the Democratic convention. Similarly, a British security official
said the disclosure "makes our job harder" as British Home Secretary
David Blunkett
(http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=549100)
lashed out at the administration for its behavior.


INDEPENDENT INTELLIGENCE EXPERTS DISMAYED: Tim Ripley, security expert
for Jane's Defense publications, said, "The whole thing smacks of
either incompetence or worse
(http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3583015&thesection=news&thesubsection=world)
. 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 [and]
counter-terrorism." Rolf Tophoven, head of the Institute for Terrorism
Research and Security Policy in Essen, Germany, commented that allowing
Khan's name to become public was "very unclever" and said "it's another
debacle."