Exclusive: Taking a Leak on Homeland Security


Author: Pamela Meister

Date Published: 2007-10-11


 

Yet another leak that compromises national security efforts occurred just last month. What’s the Bush administration doing about it? FSM Contributing Editor Pam Meister raises this question and others about a situation that’s becoming increasingly intolerable.

 

Taking a Leak on Homeland Security

 

By Pam Meister

 

“A secret between two is God’s secret; between three is all men’s.” ~ Spanish proverb

 

Okay, I admit: I had a bit of fun with this title. But the situation is hardly amusing: it looks as though someone within our government leaked sensitive material that compromised intelligence operations in the fight against Islamofascism.

 

SITE, a private commercial intelligence firm, obtained (by secretive means) last month’s video of Osama bin Laden’s sixth anniversary 9/11 “commemoration” address four days before it was made public. According to the Washington Post, SITE

 

 

…gave two senior officials access on condition that the officials not reveal they had it until the al Qaeda release.

 

Within 20 minutes, a range of intelligence agencies had begun downloading it from the company’s Web site. By midafternoon that day, the video and a transcript of its audio had been leaked from within the Bush administration to cable television news and broadcast worldwide.

 

That probably rivals the distribution of Paris Hilton’s sex video a few years back. Of course, rather than sending her into hiding, it made her famous, garnering her a couple of movie gigs, a perfume and fashion line, and frequent guest appearances on Leno and Letterman. Talk about making lemonade out of lemons! But in the world of national security, counting down Letterman’s Top Ten list is hardly alleviates the anxiety caused by lost opportunities like this.

 

The New York Sun reported on the aftermath of the leak:

One intelligence officer who requested anonymity said in an interview last week that the intelligence community watched in real time the shutdown of the Obelisk system. America’s Obelisk watchers even saw the order to shut down the system delivered from [al] Qaeda's internal security to a team of technical workers in Malaysia. That was the last internal message America's intelligence community saw. "We saw the whole thing shut down because of this leak," the official said. "We lost an important keyhole into the enemy."

U.S. intelligence officials plan to investigate the allegations of an improper leak. It’s hardly reassuring. I’m reminded of the old axiom, “No use in shutting the barn door after the horse is gone.”

This is not the first time such intelligence leaks have compromised efforts to fight Islamists. Back in 2005, someone let slip that the CIA was maintaining secret prisons in Eastern Europe and Asia for the purpose of holding and interrogating al Qaeda detainees. Also in 2005 (a banner year!), the New York Times printed an article about what the media still refers to as a domestic wiretapping program (despite the White House asking them not to do so in the name of national security).

That set off a flurry of paranoia amongst the civil liberties crowd, who worried that Uncle Sam’s henchmen were listening in to your calls for takeout pizza and appointments to have your cat neutered at the vet. At the time, blogger and columnist Michelle Malkin pointed out:

Those who actually read the piece will note that the paper must grudgingly acknowledge that it is talking about the NSA’s monitoring of international communications (e-mails, cellphone calls, etc.) only; the agency still seeks warrants to monitor entirely domestic communications.

The call from her and others for sensible reaction went unheeded by many. In fact, I’ve seen bumper stickers that say “One nation under surveillance” and “NSA: the new KGB.” Really, who do they think they’re kidding? If we were really the police state they claim we are, they’d be tossed into the clink faster than you can say “Bush lied, kids died!” for even daring to sport those stickers on their cars.

Regardless of the misplaced fears by these Americans (who continue to live in the country in spite of the terror inspired by our so-called fascist government), the damage done to our intelligence gathering capabilities is irreparable. Then-CIA Director Porter Goss said in an op-ed:

Revelations of intelligence successes or failures, whether accurate or not, can aid Al Qaeda and its global affiliates in many ways. A leak is invaluable to them, even if it only, say, prematurely confirms whether one of their associates is dead or alive. They can gain much more: these disclosures can tip the terrorists to new technologies we use, our operational tactics, and the identities of brave men and women who risk their lives to assist us.

Such leaks also cause our intelligence partners around the globe to question our professionalism and credibility. Too many of my counterparts from other countries have told me, "You Americans can't keep a secret." And because of the number of recent news reports discussing our relationships with other intelligence services, some of these critical partners have even informed the C.I.A. that they are reconsidering their participation in some of our most important antiterrorism ventures. They fear that exposure of their cooperation could subject their citizens to terrorist retaliation.

What an embarrassing situation. Think back to your high school days: did it make sense to tell your deepest, darkest secret to the class gossip? Amplify that risk about a million times and you come close to the severity of this state of affairs.

During World War II, posters emphasizing the need for caution in case spies had infiltrated American shores were plastered all over the place. “Loose Lips Sink Ships!” “Don’t Even Try – She May Be a Spy!” Ah, those were the days. Today, our slogan might well be, “Got an Ax to Grind? We Don’t Mind!”

It’s easy to get angry with the media because they’re the ones printing and broadcasting these leaks. And they should be held accountable. They like to dress up their unpatriotic actions with the old “right to know” canard, but this should not be about which news agency has the juiciest piece of tittle-tattle in order to boost ratings or increase circulation. It’s about the ability of government agencies to conduct their investigations shrouded in a cloak of mystery. It’s called spying for a reason. Those news agencies that publish this information should have their feet held to the proverbial fire, but they’re just the end of the line. We have to go back to the beginning…to those who open their yaps in the first place.

Who are these people? And why do they do it? Is it an advanced case of Bush Derangement Syndrome festering among career government workers who think nothing of compromising national security in order to cause a bit of discomfort in the White House? Or is it someone who, like an arsonist, has a sick fascination with tossing a match and watching the ensuing mayhem from afar?

No matter what the motive, these leakers need to be found and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Not only are our allies shaking their heads in disgust, but our enemies are laughing up their sleeves at every unexpected boost they receive due to such antics. The Bush administration needs to get serious about dealing with a situation that’s becoming grimmer by the day. Come on, Mr. President: this is not the time to play Mr. Nice Guy.

Otherwise, we might as well close up shop over at the CIA and put that money toward Hillary’s proposed government-sponsored 401K plan. Either way, the money’s going down the toilet.

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FamilySecurityMatters.org Editorial Director Pamela Meister is a former radio broadcaster, a recovering liberal, a contributor to AmericanThinker.com and a formidable blogger at blogmeisterusa.mu.nu.

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