You want to talk about LEAKS?!!! Here’s one for ya!

Originally posted at Daily Kos

I’m half way across the world listening to a recorded show of Mike Malloy and I can’t get to sleep.  My insomnia is compounded by the fact that I haven’t heard anyone — be it radio show pundit or Democratic congressperson — provide the ultimate slapdown to this ridiculous political stunt being played by the Republicans against the New York Times.

So I’m going ride out my insomnia by writing about a story that should be center stage right now in order to put an end to this faux anger.

Let us travel back to the year 2004…

Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan was an Al Qaeda operative who was caught by the Pakistani government and was being used as a mole in a sting operation by both the British and Pakistani intelligence officials.  

Got that?!

An Al Qaeda operative.

Being used by American allies in order to capture many more Al Qaeda terrorists.

In late July, 2004 — just before the Republican National Convention in New York and during the week of the Democratic National Convention in Boston — you may recall that a “code Orange” terrorist alert was called by then Homeland Security Director, Tom Ridge.  Increased security resulted in New York, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C.

Due to the timing of the alert (and the vagueness), Ridge was forced to be very defensive about his decision to raise the threat level at that time.

Shortly after, the name of Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan was revealed to reporters by “unnamed U.S. officials” who were trying to justify the increased threat level.

As a result, Pakistani and British intelligence were forced to conduct a premature raid on the group being watched in Pakistan.  The sting operation was breached.  It was believed that at least 5 Al Qaeda operatives got away without being captured due to this leak.  Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan was an extremely valuable mole in this operation and it was thought that Osama Bin Laden himself could have been captured through this operation.

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One year later, on July 7th, 2005 — 56 people were killed and 700 injured during the attacks by 4 suicide bombers.  What has not been widely reported or emphasized by the American media was that three of these bombers had connections to terrorist cells in the same location where Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan was conducting his operations — in Lahore, Pakistan. I remember trying to find if any connections were reported between the Khan sting and the London bombers, but no direct connections were mentioned.  We can only wonder whether the men who escaped the botched sting operation were the very same individuals who blew themselves up on that fateful day in London.

Perhaps ironically (in a prophetic sort of way), Tom Ridge — at the London Embassy of the United States of America — September, 2004 in response to the leak of Khan’s name stated:

So I can say, from my perspective, the public expression of disappointment and displeasure was appropriate. As it turned out, all’s well that ends well, but understanding the restrictions and the conditions under which your law enforcement community operates in this country, we should do everything we can to avoid compromising or undermining it, period.

Why was he so sure about all being well?

Another question…

Did anyone hear what happened to those “unnamed officials” that leaked THIS information — causing at least 5 Al Qaeda members to escape and, perhaps, leading to the deaths of 56 Londoners?

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Here’s a previous Flash Slapdown I made…

You now have a choice to watch this presentation as a video at You Tube. This might make it easier to view for some of you (although the quality of the video is not as good).

(click on pic to play)