Senator Asks White House to Explain Khan Leak (Chuckie!!! Alert)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. senator asked the White House to explain how and why the name of an al Qaeda informant was leaked to the press, amid concerns it had hurt the war on terror, a letter from the lawmaker showed on Monday.

A Pakistani intelligence source said on Friday that U.S. officials confirmed the name of captured al Qaeda suspect Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan while he was still cooperating with Pakistani authorities as part of a sting operation against Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s al Qaeda network, thereby compromising his cover.

It is not clear who was the first to disclose Khan's name, but his unmasking triggered criticism on both sides of the political spectrum, as well as speculation about the motives behind the leak. Security and terrorism are top issues for both parties in this year's U.S. presidential elections.

"I respectfully request an explanation to me and any other member of Congress who might wish one of who leaked this Mr. Khan's name, for what reason it was leaked, and whether ... reports that this leak compromised future intelligence activity are accurate," Sen. Charles Schumer (news, bio, voting record), a Democrat from New York, wrote in a letter to White House domestic security adviser Frances Townsend on Aug. 8.

Information from computer expert Khan led the United States to issue a high alert at financial institutions against a possible al Qaeda attack earlier this month, and led Britain to arrest 12 al Qaeda suspects.

Republican Sen. George Allen (news, bio, voting record) of Virginia, said on television on Sunday: "In this situation, in my view, they should have kept their mouth shut and just said, 'We have information, trust us."'

Terrorism experts said the reasons for the release of Khan's name could range from a judgment error to a sophisticated ploy designed to put al Qaeda on edge about the extent to which the network has been infiltrated by moles.

One former senior U.S. intelligence official said he suspected a political motive.

"I don't think that the U.S. intelligence community has shown enough creativity over the last few years for anyone to think of anything as smart as misdirection, or trying to send signals to al Qaeda," he said.

Asked about the release of Khan's name, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) said on Sunday it was a hard line to draw between giving the public too much or too little information about terrorist threats.

"We did not, of course, publicly disclose his name," Rice said, adding that it had been given "on background." She did not say when or by whom the name was first revealed.

Khan's capture was part of a Pakistani crackdown, which began a month ago and has dealt al Qaeda a major blow.

Obviously this picture has been photoshopped to insert the American flag behind Chuckie Schumer, the enemy of the American flag and all religions not his own.

I suspect Congress will investigate as soon as they finish looking into how the enforcement of rules governing the operation of the Staten Island ferry became so lax under Iris Weinshall, NYC Transportation Commissioner and Schumer's wife, that the ferry accident of October 17, 2003, could happen. /sarcasm

The 310-foot ferry slammed into a concrete pier as it approached the Staten Island shore in choppy, wind-swept waters Wednesday afternoon, ripping a giant hole along its right side and severing the limbs of three passengers. Some passengers leaped into the water. The crash left more than 60 people hospitalized, eight in critical condition. The dead, one woman and nine men, ranged in age from 25 to 52.

"Traditionally when a boat is approaching one of the terminals, the captain and the assistant captain are in the pilot house together," said Iris Weinshall "with" the NYC Dept. of Transportation -- yeah, as its chief commissioner.

You see, it's all a matter of keeping "tradition".

Osserritte Robinson lost her husband of eight months, Louis. (Photo: CBS)

Iris Weinshall, the commissioner of the DOT, has deflected blame away from the DOTan agency that has a long history of having little regard for human lifeand has placed it exclusively on the individuals running the boat.

...

Commissioner Weinshall would be doing far greater service to this city if she would concentrate her efforts on taking a good long hard look within the DOT rather than lashing out at employees who, despite DOT oversight, have an otherwise exemplary safety record.

NYC DOT is responsible for: Installing and maintaining street signs, traffic signals, and streetlights, resurfacing streets, repairing potholes, installing and maintaining parking meters, managing municipal parking facilities, maintaining hundreds of bridges including the East River bridges, and operating the Staten Island Ferry. It is a mammoth city agency stretched thin to the point of complete incompetence.

...

Exacerbating the situation is that commissioner Weinshall is neither a trained engineer, an urban planner, an architect, a transportation maven, nor a visionary. Her main qualification seems to be her ability to thrive in a hydra-headed bureaucracy. She is new enough in her position where she isn’t held accountable for all of the agencies failures. However, she has been at her job long enough to demonstrate a decided inability to lead this city with ideas, innovation and vision. Like many commissioners before her, she has a windshield perspective, which means she sees the problems of her agency through the interior of an automobile. This is not exactly the intelligent (or democratically responsible) way to see things when 90% of Manhattan residents don’t own cars. Her marriage to career politician, Senator Chuck Schumer, has the distinct foul aroma of political nepotism. As the head of the D.O.T. it is commissioner Weinshall who should take responsibility for what happened and be held accountable.

The fact that there was no oversight of the pilothouse after ferries have been identified as potential terrorist targets is a clear signal that the public cannot trust this dangerously run, insular, out-of-touch agency. The cold hard reality is there are post 9/11 security reasons why allocating space for the efficient movement of emergency vehicles in our city has a more pressing need than ever before. And, it is crystal clear to everyone living in New York during 9/11 and more recently with the Northeast blackout on August 13th, 2003, that there is a need for an infrastructure that can support the pedestrian evacuation of Manhattan. The DOT has not even publicly identified these needs, let alone begun to address them in a meaningful way. What, exactly are they waiting for?

-- Harris Silver, source: www.citystreets.org/oped102303-2.html

"We did not, of course, publicly disclose his name," Rice said, adding that it had been given "on background." She did not say when or by whom the name was first revealed.

So the Administration gave his name on "background"? What the hell does that mean, "background"???

Loose lips sink ships.

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