BUSH LEAK ALLOWED TERRORISTS TO ESCAPE
President Bush has promised his administration is "doing everything we
can" to fight the War on Terror.[1] He has also said, "I've constantly
expressed my displeasure with leaks"[2] and said, "whether they happened in
the White House or happened in the administration or happened on Capitol
Hill [leaks] can be very damaging."[3] But according to a new report, the
White House's leak of secret information for its own political gain has
undermined the War on Terror because it allowed key al Qaeda suspects to
escape.
According to government and security officials, the disclosure by the White
House "of the arrest of an al Qaeda computer expert allowed several wanted
suspects from Osama bin Laden's terror network to escape." Specifically,
the White House told the media it had apprehended Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan,
a 25-year-old Pakistani computer engineer who the administration said was a
terrorist.[4] But according to MSNBC, Khan was a key intelligence source
for U.S. and Pakistani authorities and "had been actively cooperating with
intelligence agents to help catch al-Qaida operatives."[5] In other words,
the White House blew the cover of a U.S. intelligence mole in order to
publicly justify raising the terror alert level one week after the
Democratic National Convention. In the process, it allowed terrorists who
threaten America to evade capture.
If there was any doubt about who leaked Khan's name and compromised U.S.
national security, those were put to rest this weekend. On CNN's "Late
Edition with Wolf Blitzer" on Sunday, National Security Adviser Condoleezza
Rice admitted it was the Bush administration that leaked Khan's name.[6]
Sources:
1. "President's Remarks at Marquette, Michigan Rally," The White House,
07/13/04, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2103488&l=49795.
2. "President Discusses National, Economic Security in Cabinet Meeting,"
The White House, 10/7/03, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2103488&l=
49796.
3. "President Holds Press Conference," The White House, 10/28/03,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2103488&l=49797.
4. "Leak allowed al-Qaeda suspects to escape," USA Today, 8/10/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2103488&l=49798.
5. "Pakistan: U.S. Blew Undercover Operation," Truthout, 8/6/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2103488&l=49799.
6. "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer," CNN, 08/08/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2103488&l=49800.
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