Satire closed on Saturday night.
Intelligence, of course, is just another instrument of war. And intelligence, like force, can only be used to a certain extent in any given situation. But a show of intelligence will instill an absolute dread of one’s investigatory powers in the terrorist mind. So while Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan could only accomplish so much as an actual source of hard intelligence—perhaps breaking up a terrorist cell here, exposing a plot there, assisting in the capture of bin Laden lieutenants there—as a show of intelligence, exposed and outed as an intelligence source, Khan is far more valuable—terrorizing the terrorists themselves. The Medium Lobster would not be surprised if Osama bin Laden himself were trembling in some dark cave, marveling at the well-oiled efficiency of the American intelligence apparatus, wondering how many other theoretical Khans were out there waiting to inform on him.
—the Medium Lobster, “A Show of Intelligence,” Fafblog!
However, two days later, another Reuters article allowed that maybe the leak wasn’t the tremendous screw-up the wire service had previously reported. “Terrorism experts,” the piece noted, “said the reasons for the release of Khan’s name could range from a judgment error to a sophisticated ploy designed to put al Qaeda on edge about the extent to which the network has been infiltrated by moles.”
—Lee Smith, “Does the US press know we’re at war?” Slate
Commenting is closed for this article.
The depth to which pundits and pundit-wannabes underestimate the power of a decentralized network of coordinated but independent terror cells is only surpassed by the height by which it is overestimated.
Yeah, we're psychin' 'em out, man! Got 'em on the run.
Jesus fucking wept.