[MizSterious]

"A Wall Street Journal reporter acquired them for $1,100, copying hundreds of files and getting some of them translated from the Arabic. U.S. officials confirm the authenticity of the files, most protected by passwords, and say they provide a trove of information about the inner workings of the secretive organization. "

Does this particular chain of custody bother anyone besides me? The WSJ copies files before turning it over to the U.S. authorities apparently--and given some of western journalism's past fiascos, one can only hope they didn't accidentally or deliberately erase or change any of the files thereon.

[Doctor Stochastic]

If there's this much information available from Kabul-Komputer-Korner, (maybe some organizational data), how much would be available on the missing State Department Computers (lost by The Previous Administration)?

[snopercod]

Does this particular chain of custody bother anyone besides me?

I would trust experts hired by the WSJ much more than the bunglers at the FBI "crime lab", where evidence is routinely lost.

[Plummz]

Does this particular chain of custody bother anyone besides me? The WSJ copies files before turning it over to the U.S. authorities apparently--and given some of western journalism's past fiascos,

Not really, given the "fiascos," unintended and otherwise, of selfsame "U.S. authorities."

[Eva]

Oh, please. The Wall Street Journal reporter bought the computer on the black market and had some of th information translated and wrote an article about the contents. He did not work for the gov't therefore he was not obligated to turn over his find before he had written his story. He had no reason to alter the material and I trust that it is not a fabrication. There was more than enough news happening at that time without making up stories.