Looking out for us

Gosh, doesn't it seem a little counterproductive for our self-puffing Adminisration to release information like this to the press? If the Government has captured a computer geek who has all the secrets about Qaeda's computer communication, why publicize it, except to toot your own tarnished horn?

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 - The unannounced capture of a figure from Al Qaeda in Pakistan several weeks ago led the Central Intelligence Agency to the rich lode of information that prompted the terror alert on Sunday, according to senior American officials. The figure, Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan, was described by a Pakistani intelligence official as a 25-year-old computer engineer, arrested July 13, who had used and helped to operate a secret Qaeda communications system where information was transferred via coded messages. A senior United States official would not confirm or deny that Mr. Khan had been the Qaeda figure whose capture led to the information. But the official said 'documentary evidence' found after the capture had demonstrated in extraordinary detail that Qaeda members had for years conducted sophisticated and extensive reconnaissance of the financial institutions cited in the warnings on Sunday.

Why not keep the capture secret and get the guy to help in a sting?