Pakistan: U.S. blew undercover operation (NY Times blew double agent cover)

MSNBC ^ | 8/6/04 | MSNBC

[jimbo123]

Al-Qaida suspect was secretly cooperating with counterrorist sting

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The al-Qaida suspect named by U.S. officials as the source of information that led to this week’s terrorist alerts was working undercover, Pakistani intelligence sources said Friday, putting an end to the sting operation and forcing Pakistan to hide the man in a secret location.

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Under pressure to justify the alerts in three Northeastern cities, U.S. officials confirmed a report by The New York Times that the man, Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan, was the source of the intelligence that led to the decision.

A Pakistani intelligence source told Reuters on Friday that Khan, who was arrested in Lahore secretly last month, had been actively cooperating with intelligence agents to help catch al-Qaida operatives when his name appeared in U.S. newspapers.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I am trying to keep my eyelids open so I can see the H & C show replay that comes on at 11 on Fox..

Susan Egkridge gone blow out of the water by a Republican lawyer ..... name escapes me now.... I hate senior moments....

[Brad’s Gramma]

I'M trying to make mine CLOSE!


Like an idiot, I came home from work and took a nap, starting at 5:00ish. I woke up at 7:15....and now I'm all ready to go!!!! Stupid stupid move....

[Eva]

I think that the leak came from Pakistanis. For what purpose, is anyone's guess.

[Eva]

Captured Qaeda engineer spurred attack warnings
By Douglas Jehl and David Rohde (The New York Times)
Monday, August 2, 2004


WASHINGTON: The unannounced capture of a figure from Al Qaeda in Pakistan several weeks ago led the CIA to the rich lode of information that prompted the terror alert on Sunday, according to senior U.S. 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 in which information was transferred via coded messages.

A senior U.S. official would not confirm or deny that 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.

One senior U.S. intelligence official said the information was more detailed and precise than any he had seen during his 24-year career in intelligence work. A second senior U.S. official said it had provided a new window into the methods, content and distribution of Qaeda communications.

"This, for us, is a potential treasure-trove," said a third senior U.S. official, an intelligence expert, at a briefing for reporters on Sunday afternoon.

The documentary evidence, whose contents were reported urgently to Washington on Friday afternoon, immediately elevated the significance of other intelligence information gathered in recent weeks that had already been regarded as highly troubling, senior U.S. intelligence officials said. Much of that information had come from Qaeda detainees in Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia, as well as Pakistan, and some had also pointed to a possible attack on financial institutions, senior U.S. intelligence officials said.

The U.S. officials said the new evidence had been obtained only after the capture of the Qaeda figure. Among other things, they said, it demonstrated that Qaeda plotters had begun casing buildings in New York, Washington, and Newark, New Jersey, even before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Among the questions the plotters sought to answer, senior U.S. intelligence officials said, were how best to gain access to the targeted buildings; how many people might be at the sites at different hours and on different days of the week; whether a hijacked oil tanker truck could serve as an effective weapon; and how large an explosive device might be required to bring the buildings down.

The U.S. officials would say only that the Qaeda figure whose capture had led to the discovery of the documentary evidence had been captured with the help of the CIA.

But an account provided by a Pakistani intelligence official made clear that the crucial capture in recent weeks had been that of Khan, who is also known as Abu Talha. The intelligence official provided information describing Khan as having assisted in evaluating potential U.S. and Western targets for terrorist attacks, and as being representative of a "new Al Qaeda."

[OneTimeLurker]

I think this leak could have been an overzealous admin. official who tried to show the current state of alert was not based on old news. If so, they should be imprisoned regardless. Totally inexcusable. He may have helped the President but he may have harmed the country more.

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

LOOSE LIPS SINK SHIPS

[Not just another dumb blonde]

i couldn't have said it better. i just wish more people would wake up and smell the coffee. thank you for saying what i couldn't put into words.

[Grampa Dave]

Your are the enemy of common sense.

How much are you getting paid to post this BS to vote in Kerry who will destroy our nation.

If you want to commit suicide, go do it. Don't ask us to do it to please your insanity.

Your sign in name says it all for the sane people on FR.

[Sal]

The New York Times has done their best to damage the Bush administration. Things like intelligence capability, and national security are considered 'collateral damage' in the virtuous struggle to defeat the Bush administration.

Yep. This operation had already rolled up lots of biggies in al Qaeda power structure--and it was still going on.

IMO Jehl and Rohde* must have panicked at the thought of Zawahiri, bin Laden and Zarqawi being killed or arrested before the election. Somebody had to put a stop to it.

*And who knows what other traitors behind the scenes in Washington, NYC or Pakistan...

[WOSG]

http://freedomstruth.blogspot.com

thanks, I put it on my blog.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Khan was a cousin to the guy we picked up in London who had the plans of the 3001 Naval movements in the persian Gulf:

U.S. Accuses British Man of Terrorist Conspiracy (Had plans of classified Naval group movements )

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

The Times identified him as Khan, although it did not say how it had learned his name.

I have this unproven theory that we got to Khan from our side, starting with the Navy reservists which lead to the guy in London (Babar Ahmad ) who was a cousin of Khan, had the 2001 Naval ship movements, was a recruiter, supported the operations in Chechyan in several ways and communicated regularly with Khan..... etc.!

[fso301]

Who told the NYTimes?

The NYTimes article said it was the Paki's who named the guy. The NYTimes printed his name and only after printing it did Washington confirm it.

[jerrydavenport]

i suppose plans for naval movements could also come from some of the clerical or administrative staff.

I seriously doubt if non muslim US officers would sell anything to rag heads.

[devolve]

It is time to publish all personal and business info on NYT leaking traitor journalists.

Not here on FR, but on easily accessible well known websites.


The New York Times has joined Al Qaeda as a full partner and is now proven to be the enemy of the USA.


Anyone with information on the names of reporters and editors and management involved in this particular traitorous leak and breech of our security please FReepmail me to names, links, sources, etc.

I will take it from there.

There are surviving families of our brave US troops who were killed in Afghanistan and Iraq and military and civilians killed here in the USA on 911 who are anxious to find the names and addresses and details on these NYT traitors.

I will see that these NYT pinkos are handled properly on the web and also contacted and met up close and personal.


Ink for Blood!

[MeekOneGOP]

The NY Slimes printed his name. What slimeballs. And this PMSNBC BS article makes it sound like "The Americans" revealed an undercover sting operation.

Note to PMSNBC BS: The NY Slimes are ANTI-American.

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Experts taken by surprise
Intelligence and security experts said they were surprised that Washington would reveal information that could expose the name of a source during an ongoing law enforcement operation.

“If it’s true that the Americans have unintentionally revealed the identity of another nation’s intelligence agent, who appears to be working in the good of all of us, that is not only a fundamental intelligence flaw. It’s also a monumental foreign relations blunder,” security expert Paul Beaver, a former publisher of Jane’s Defense Weekly, told Reuters.

Kevin Rosser, a security expert at the London-based consultancy Control Risks Group, said such a disclosure was a risk that came with staging public alerts but that authorities were supposed to take special care not to ruin ongoing operations.

“When these public announcements are made, they have to be supported with some evidence, and in addition to creating public anxiety and fatigue, you can risk revealing sources and methods of sensitive operations,” he said.

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[Alamo-Girl]

Bump!

[potlatch]

What ever happened to 'Loose lips sink ships'?? I can't believe there isn't some law covering this type of thing during wartime.

[MeekOneGOP]

Yeah, I wonder how they found out? Even having found out,
they should keep their trap shut, I agree.