Too Political to Remain in Charge

How many times are we going to see the Bush Administration play politics with National Security before an overwhelming majority of Americans see them as too damn dangerous and irresponsible to remain in charge.

It is not just invading Iraq on faulty and deficient circumstances (and that is being diplomatic of course). The litany of their use of politics over national security is long and shameful. But the latest series is disgusting.

Not only did they divulge the identity of a CIA Operative, Valerie Plame, for purposes of political revenge, but now, with a whiff of criticism that the "terror alert" was politically motivated, they say, "You want politics over security? Try this on for size liberals".

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- The effort by U.S. officials to justify raising the terror alert level last week may have shut down an important source of information that has already led to a series of al Qaeda arrests, Pakistani intelligence sources have said.

Until U.S. officials leaked the arrest of Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan to reporters, Pakistan had been using him in a sting operation to track down al Qaeda operatives around the world, the sources said.

In background briefings with journalists last week, unnamed U.S. government officials said it was the capture of Khan that provided the information that led Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge to announce a higher terror alert level.

Khan is a computer expert who officials said helped Osama bin Laden communicate with his terror network.

Investigators found detailed surveillance information on certain targets in the United States, apparently conducted by al Qaeda operatives, on Khan's computer disks.

The unnamed U.S. officials leaked Khan's name along with confirmation that most of the surveillance data was three or four years old, arguing that its age was irrelevant because al Qaeda planned attacks so far in advance.

Law enforcement sources said some of the intelligence gleaned from the arrests of Khan and others gave phone numbers and e-mail addresses that the FBI and other agencies were using to try to track down any al Qaeda operatives in the United States.

Then on Friday, after Khan's name was revealed, government sources told CNN that counterterrorism officials had seen a drop in intercepted communications among suspected terrorists.

Officials used Sunday's talk shows to defend last week's heightened alerts, amid widespread claims the White House disclosed Khan's arrest to justify raising its terror alert level. (Full story)

But some observers have said that Islamabad should not have been compromised by political considerations in Washington.

One senator told CNN that U.S. officials should have kept Khan's role quiet.

"You always want to know the evidence," said Senator George Allen.

"In this situation, in my view, they should have kept their mouth shut and just said, 'We have information, trust us.' "

Senator Charles Schumer said he was "troubled" by the decision to identify Khan.

He said the public learned little from reports of Khan's role, "and it seems to me they shouldn't have put this name out."

"The Pakistani interior minister, Faisal Hayat, as well as the British home secretary, David Blunkett, have expressed displeasure in fairly severe terms that Khan's name was released, because they were trying to track down other contacts of his," Schumer told CNN.

I would think this would keep the Right-Wingers quiet about not trusting Democrats with National Security, but of course it will not. Remember this, amongst other things, when they try to sell the country on this argument later this month.