August 08, 2004
Smooth Move Exlax
Printable Version | [eMail this article!] |In yet another bungling, the Bush administration undermines the "war on terrorism" by revealing the name of a Pakistani source from within Al Qaeda. My first response (a blast from my childhood) was "Smooth move Exlax."
Here's the story. In July, Pakistan had arrested Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan who was an inside member of Al Qaeda. Khan had proven to be a tremendously valuable source of information as he was willing to send and receive coded Al Qaeda messages. He was the primary source of new information that led to the most recent US alert, and to the UK's operation to identify Al Qaeda members in Britain. Johnston states in an 8/08/04 NY times article:
It is not clear whether Mr. Khan represents the second channel of intelligence that officials have alluded to in recent days that, they say, convinced them that the reconnaissance of financial institutions was related to current threats.But he is emerging as a central figure in an expanding web of connections that, the authorities say, indicates that they may have penetrated an operational Qaeda group whose intentions were previously unknown.
Reading the various reports, there is a constant theme of horror at the stupidity of the US releasing the man's name. Typical of the expert response is this quote from Capitol Hill Blues:
Security experts contacted by Reuters said they were shocked by the revelations that the source whose information led to the alert was identified within days, and that U.S. officials had confirmed his name."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?"
A source such as Khan -- cooperating with the authorities while staying in active contact with trusting al Qaeda agents -- would be among the most prized assets imaginable, he said.
"Running agents within a terrorist organization is the Holy Grail of intelligence agencies. And to have it blown is a major setback which negates months and years of work, which may be difficult to recover."
In revealing the name of this source, the US has undermined counter-terrorist activities in at least three countries - Pakistan, Britain, and the US.
It would seem to me, that this type of source from within Pakistan's Al Qaeda operation is particularly important as Pakistan is part of a critical Al Qaeda channel (Road to Al Qaeda runs through Pakistan>. However, the Bush administration has shown previous lack of care about the identity of critical undercover information sources. Remember Valerie Plame and the investigation that is still going on to discover just who in the Whitehouse outed her?
Pakistani and British authorities are as mad as hell at the US over this "slip." The US public should be mad as well. Al Qaeda has been damnably difficult to penetrate, so a cooperative source inside the organization is invaluable. You would have thought that the lesson would have been learned with the Plame debacle. To not be conspiratorial, I'll attribute this to stupidity rather than suggesting that Khan was deliberately revealed.
Sources and Resources
8/06/04 Reteurs, Pakistan Source Under Cover When U.S. Confirmed Name
8/06/04 Bencivenga, CSM, Road to Al Qaeda runs through Pakistan
8/07/04 MSNBC, Pakistan: U.S. Blew Undercover Operation
8/07/04 Graff, CHB, U.S. Screwed Pooch By Outing Its Own al Qaeda Mole
8/07/04 Max Blumenthal, The Pakistani Valerie Plame?
8/07/04 Cole, Informed Comment, Did the Bush Administration Burn a Key al-Qaeda Double Agent?
8/08/04 Elliott et al, Independent/UK, The sting and the spin: will a small house in Willesden unlock the secrets of al-Qa'ida?
8/08/04 Daily Kos, Experts Horrified at US Outing of Qaeda mole
8/08/04 Johnston, NYT, U.S. Says Man Had Ties to Plot to Disrupt Vote
Posted by rowan at August 8, 2004 07:45 AM | TrackBack | Printable Version | [eMail this article!] |If I Were A Spook:
Spook is the term used years ago for employees of the CIA, and I might want to do just such a thing as 'outing' a double agent. These spies and spy-masters must really live a convoluted existence. They must be inherently schizophrenic. I wonder what MMPI profiles would tell the public about our spooks? And how is it they continue to pull down their large budgets year after year, despite their reputed ineptness and follies and despite the many hearings and wagging fingers of Senators and Representatives? Surely they must blur the line between real and potential enemies.
On the other hand, I don't think these bin laden types are dumb, and they must be every bit as suspicious and cautionary as the most hardened and experienced of our spooks. It must be almost like chess masters, extrapolating moves and counter-moves with set pieces. Can a double really be a triple agent, having alerted his true friends that he is compromised and that they must play along, thus a red herring is implanted on our side? It does become schizophrenic - Peter is telling Paul who is telling the CIA but Paul has already told peter about being a double so Peter is really using john as a laison, whom the CIA suspects but can't confirm until peter officially quits using paul as an asset. Maybe the real doubles in espionage have a shelf life so to speak, a secret mathematical formula known only by the CIA , that projects a time line of reliability, after which the asset is shot or sent off to some remote spot to sit and ponder for the rest of his/her days.
When I was a Hippy many years ago, some of us kept a sharp eye peeled for men who had shiny black FBI shoes, slinking about, spying and taking pictures of our long hair and bell bottoms and listening in on our plotting and anti-establishment schemes. I recall one time at some kind of gathering or protest one of 'them' asked if we could all bunch together so he could just get one picture and not have to follow us around. We complied, flashing the peace sign for the photo. Maybe this is how it really works for spooks.
Posted by: goesh at August 11, 2004 09:22 AM