Posted on 10/09/2007 2:21:58 AM PDT by jsh3180
WASHINGTON Al Qaeda's Internet communications system has suddenly gone dark to American intelligence after the leak of Osama bin Laden's September 11 speech inadvertently disclosed the fact that we had penetrated the enemy's system.
The intelligence blunder started with what appeared at the time as an American intelligence victory, namely that the federal government had intercepted, a full four days before it was to be aired, a video of Osama bin Laden's first appearance in three years in a video address marking the sixth anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001. On the morning of September 7, the Web site of ABC News posted excerpts from the speech.
But the disclosure from ABC and later other news organizations tipped off Qaeda's internal security division that the organization's Internet communications system, known among American intelligence analysts as Obelisk, was compromised. While intranets are usually based on servers in a discrete physical location, Obelisk is a series of sites all over the Web, often with fake names, in some cases sites that are not even known by their proprietors to have been hacked by Al Qaeda.
One intelligence officer who requested anonymity said in an interview last week that the intelligence community watched in real time the shutdown of the Obelisk system. America's Obelisk watchers even saw the order to shut down the system delivered from Qaeda's internal security to a team of technical workers in Malaysia. That was the last internal message America's intelligence community saw. "We saw the whole thing shut down because of this leak," the official said. "We lost an important keyhole into the enemy."
(Excerpt) Read more at nysun.com ...
Funny, you read the headline and first paragraph you think it was an intelligence snafu; you get to the second paragraph, though, and it appears it was the media rushing the material out that ruined the operation.
Do the lives of innocent Americans mean so little to ABC or any other like news organization? Obviously, it does.
And what will the Justice Department do about it? (Nothing)
That's because they aren't Americans and they don't take sides in this war. How Un-American and unpatriotic of you to think that they might let their bias show.
The leak seems to be an intelligence community problem, not a media one.
Looks to me like Rita Katz’ folks are continuing to do outstanding work. Maybe someone smart will someday make her DCI.
BTTT
Damnit somebody needs to hang over this!
Thank You ABC News; traitors.
We need to get to the bottom of this disgusting anti-American media aiding and abetting the enemy. What is it going to take another 9-11? It will happen but it won’t stop the traitors.
It doesn’t surprise me that the media is full of traitors. On the other hand, the story doesn’t make much sense because even if we have broken their security (as I’m sure we have), we certainly would not turn the excerpts over to ABC. And if we did, then maybe we’ve got traitors in the CIA, as well.
Ditto. The news media wouldn't know about it if the intelligence community could keep a secret.
I'd say it's both.
2 problems: the government person(s) who leaked, and the news organizations who publicized the leak.
There are far too many people in government who are just too stupid for words, and most of the remainder are traitors.
Add to that news agencies that are more concerned with a news coup than the welfare of the country and you have a recipe for defeat.
“Enemies, domestic and foreign”
One intelligence officer who requested anonymity said in an interview last week
I want this SOB hung. He works for the government, he works for the people of the United States of America, not the media. If he can't keep his mouth shut he needs to be hung out to dry, tried, imprisoned and suffer the ultimate penalty of traitors.
The Senate Judiciary committee will however do something. They passed out of committee a shield for these traitorous reporters to never have to reveal their sources. Our United States Senate has endorsed espionage on the front page of major media newspapers and headlines from the mainstream media.
These people are pathetic.
Perhaps.
But I also see this as a severe partisan problem, in which the many GWB haters inside the CIA/Intelligence community are eager to leak things ... just to damage this Administration.
Maybe I'm getting paranoid, but that's what I truly believe.
I’m not totally sure this is a bad thing. They relied on that system and now have had to shut it down. This must be significantly reducing their ability to communicate with each other. I expect we’ll locate the replacement system fairly quickly — if we haven’t already; this story may be part of a disinformation campaign to convince al Qaeda that we’ve completely lost access to their communication network, when in fact we haven’t.
Don’t be too quick to hang him. He may well have been delivering an officially planned “leak” of that comment. All is not as it seems in the world of intelligence.
Qaeda Goes Dark After a U.S. Slip (ABC leak damage)...
abc demonstrating once again which side they are fully supporting....
yet like lib/dems all ~ they squeal they supoort the troops...wonder if they wear their american flag pins proudly on their lapels???

Aw, c'mon... It's not like anybody takes any of this National Security stuff seriously...
The Company acquired the nickname "The Boy Scouts" in certain circles.
But is the problem really with the CIA? I had thought that elint was the responsibility of the NSA.
You are correct.
This was no "intelligence blunder."
It was MSM Treason.
Someone had to tell the media. Who was it?
Wouldn’t it be ironic if a member of news media were to die because they couldn’t keep their mouth shut??
An investigation into who downloaded the video from our server indicated that several computers with IP addresses were registered to government agencies.
Yesterday a spokesman for the National Counterterrorism Center, Carl Kropf, denied the accusation that it was responsible for the leak. "That's just absolutely wrong. The allegation and the accusation that we did that is unfounded," he said. The spokesman for the director of national intelligence, Ross Feinstein, yesterday also denied the leak allegation. "The intelligence community and the ODNI senior leadership did not leak this video to the media," he said.
Ms. Katz said, "The government leak damaged our investigation into Al Qaeda's network. Techniques and sources that took years to develop became ineffective. As a result of the leak Al Qaeda changed their methods." Ms. Katz said she also lost potential revenue.
Is this where the MSM told the bad guys we had their cell phone frequencies?
What the hell was our intelligence organization doing giving the Press the info to begin with? How many times do they need to be hit over the head before they will get the fact that the MSM will F em every time?
TRAITOROUS MEDIA SCUM!!!
Guess who’s back working for Hillary again...
But you were right the first time. How did that information get to the MSM?
OK the dems like a witch-hunt.
Find the jerk responsible for the leak and charge the leaker with treason.
True. It may have been to see where things came from in the “shut down”.
It’s time to bring back the “Committee on Un-American Activities”.
Remember our discussions after Damadola....wasn’t it my position that we were intercepting AQ internet video posting.....I’ll be darned ....but....I was correct....:-)
How did ABC learn of the system?
Fyi
A leaker
The article is confusing, but in this case I find it hard to blame the media. There is no reason that anyone should hand over sensitive information to the media that would compromise our intelligence gathering.
If this was given or leaked to the Drive-by Media, it is the fault of the one that gave them the info knowing they are partisan, anti-American appeasing traitors.
The official that disclosed this to the media should be executed.......ABC, NBC, CBS should be ignored.
Had ABC and the other anti-American msm outlets been around during WWII, Hitler would have won.
ABC should be banned from the White House Press Corps for compromising our security in this disgraceful way.
This article is pretty much 100% incorrect in it’s timeline and assessment of the situation.
What do you base that statement on?
It is ironic!
Eventually, these America-hating leakers and the media are going to get a lot of people killed. More likely than not, it’ll be in some big-city bastion of liberalism where people just like them live.
It sounds as if an independent, for-pay business provided the US Government with intelligence. That is fascinating in itself. As soon as it got to the Fed it was compromised.
As we’ve long suspected, that strongly suggests there is a network or aggregation of individuals in our intelligence community who work against our government.
This also highlights why the “journalist protection” act is a mistake. Anyone wishing to disclose intel info could do so with impunity simply by passing it to a journalist who would then reveal it.
” Eventually, these America-hating leakers and the media are going to get a lot of people killed. More likely than not, itll be in some big-city bastion of liberalism where people just like them live. “
The first indication we’re going to get of the inevitable mushroom cloud over New York —
Will be all of the “Morning Shows” going black simultaneously....
http://news.aol.com/story/ar/_a/mom-finds-osama-video-before-release/20070920210609990001
Mom Finds Osama Video Before Release
By SAGAR MEGHANI,
AP
Posted: 2007-09-20 22:50:06
WASHINGTON (Sept. 20) - Once her son is off to school, Laura Mansfield settles in at her dining room table with her laptop and begins trolling Arabic-language message boards and chat rooms popular with jihadists.
This woman was giving interviews, she was also the first person to report the video to US intelligence authorities. She then went and did itnerviews that blew her cover and implicitly mentioned her M.O. to gain access. now Rita Kaitz’s company and other for profit groups also did interviews giving away info.
Google “Laura Mansfield” “Bin Laden” to find more info.
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