TheAgitator.com
Good Point.
Monday, March 3rd, 2003Mickey Kaus blogs what I was thinking when I heard the news:
Why did we find out about the capture of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed almost immediately after the event? Wouldn’t it have been better to keep the arrest secret while the U.S. and its allies rolled up those al Qaeda operatives whose whereabouts could be traced through Mohammeds’ cell phone and computer, etc.? Why send out a worldwide alert, through CNN, to his co-conspirators, telling them it was time to scatter? Did the need for good publicity trump sound anti-terror techniques?
Didn’t make much sense to me, either. In fact, we heard about his capture before he was in U.S. custody. Don’t you think al-Qaeda operatives have a “Plan B” in place should a top commander get captured? Why tip them off?
Getting sloppy – straight from cnn.com:
Some counterterrorism officials expressed frustration that the Pakistani government had so quickly disclosed information about Mohammed’s arrest. One source said it put U.S. authorities “behind the eight ball” in trying to locate potential terrorist cells and that it would have been helpful if U.S. agents had been given a 24-hour head start.
I think that was the plan, then the “sister-in-law” who was at house when the raid occured managed to wiggle out and talk to the press. On saturday, she was all over the airwaves crying about how they were attacked by 25 armed men, and how horrible it all was….
( the poor thing, first she’s in a third world hovel with no running water, no indoor toilet and no air conditioning with her brother in law the “human saquatch” and her only respite being sleep is interrupted by the crew from fox tvs “cops” at 4:00 am, fergodsakes, whats a girl to do!).
The more ‘grassy-knoll’ style rumor this weekend is that we’ve have him for awhile, and it was an attempt to flush out some of the more intractible elements of his team.
Once the cat was out of the bag, it was time to trumpet it to the high heavens. Yes, partly for the political advantage, but also the psychological effects on Al Qaeda itself. Panic and poor morale might well make some of them do something stupid.
Hmm… hey, maybe that photo really IS of Ron Jeremy! Perhaps the government was counting on strict religious fanatics not recognizing him…
Two things occurred to me:
1) (As suggested above), that there was no way to contain the info. Even if it wasn’t shouted from the rooftops, the info would have gotten out to some degree. I am not sure you could have kept it secret from the operatives anyway–surely his absence would have been noticed fairly quickly.
and
2) Announcing his capture has to send some shockwaves through the cells of significance, and likely has disrupted at least their short-term plans. Unless they were ready to attack immediately (and thhankfully it appears they were not), their plans have been compromised, and they can’t risk action at this point.
I heard this morning they caught the son of the guy who planned the 1993 WTC bombing…six weeks ago.
All I know is that progress is being made. Even while courting war in Iraq. Something the leftpundits said could not be done.
Chris,
Perhaps proving that was the whole point of letting this information out? I would think that security risks so grave that they require us to abandon American values regarding those held in Cuba would also apply in this case… but I guess not when political points can be scored.
Since the Pakistanis were the ones who made the announcement, it’s fairly obvious that it was a warning for the rest of the roaches to scatter. Not all of the Pak government is happy with the cooperation the US is getting.
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