[MP-Ryan]

Related to the security theatre thread, but [I thought] deserving of its own discussion.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/cia-foils-new-al-qaeda-underwear-bomb-plot-against-airliner/article2425831/

Officials told The Associated Press a day earlier that discovery of the unexploded bomb represented an intelligence prize resulting from a covert CIA operation in Yemen, saying that the intercept thwarted a suicide mission around the anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said Tuesday that “a number of countries” provided information and cooperation that helped foil the plot. He said he had no information on the would-be bomber, but that White House officials had told him “He is no longer of concern,” meaning no longer any threat to the U.S.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee, told reporters Monday night that she had been briefed Monday about an “undetectable” device that was “going to be on a U.S.-bound airliner.”

They could dismantle every new policy and procedure implemented at the TSA since 2001 today, put that funding into human intelligence programs, and travel would STILL be more secure than it is right now.

[redsniper]

But then where would we get bald mannequin naked pics of air travelers?!

[General Battuta]

Related as well, the US gov recently released a bunch of material from bin Laden's personal files, including letters in which he complained that al Qaeda cells were killing too many Muslim civilians and causing too much collateral damage, thereby alienating the very people they were fighting for

lol

i like to imagine al qaeda and US CENTCOM all 'careful, dude, there are civilians there. that is a big wedding. can you just - move that VBIED over that way so we can - okay, thanks, i'm going to send some predators now. okay. have a good day, CAMEL ****ER' 'peace out HEATHEN DOGPIG please be careful we're really courting that guy'

lol

[Mongoose]

I think my favorite part of those letters was that even bin Laden dissed Fox News.

[StarSlayer]

Granted its really just a technicality but I'd be rather uncomfortable with being equipped with a device that blows up balls first. 

[Unknown Target]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/09/world/middleeast/suicide-mission-volunteer-was-double-agent-officials-say.html?_r=2&hp

The suicide bomber dispatched by the Yemen branch of Al Qaeda last month to blow up a United States-bound airliner was actually an intelligence agent for Saudi Arabia who infiltrated the terrorist group and volunteered for the mission, American and foreign officials said Tuesday.

[Mongoose]

Like a boss.

[karajorma]

And then the press go and **** it up by announcing to the world that he's a double agent.

[Klaustrophobia]

maybe "freedom of the press" isn't such a good idea after all.


 

[jg18]

It looks like one intelligence agency can impersonate terrorists and the other can detect them. Too bad that they apparently don't coordinate with each other.

[karajorma]

Well I think the point of this story is that they did. The agent gave up the bomb so it could be studied and make detecting bombs like it easier.

Then the TSA can **** it up.

[jg18]

That's what I get for not reading the articles.

Reading them, though, I'm confused. How did the press find out about this?

[General Battuta]

It was announced intentionally. I don't think there was any screwup here.

[Grizzly]

The double agent's status was probably already comprimised when... nothing blew up.

Oh bloody hell, he was on a mission to blow himself up! There's no way anything would have been gained from maintaining his cover...

[karajorma]

Wanna bet?

How much info do you think they'd have got if they claimed they'd picked him up just due to some lucky random check (maybe with a hint of a racial profiling in to make the terrorists angry and therefore less likely to think rationally about it) and then just threw him in a jail with some other terror suspects they think have information?

Hell, even just sticking to the story long enough to see who pays for his lawyer might give them new info.

[Scotty]

Except anything you just mentioned has the unintentional side effect of pissing off everybody who happens to look like our double-agent at the same time as our terrorists.

This sends a much clearer message.  "We can put our guys in your operation whenever the hell we want to, and you'll never know it until we want you to know it."

[karajorma]

The racial profiling bit might (which is why I suggested it as a maybe) but why the **** would people in Muslim countries be pissed off about the US capturing a terrorist and putting him in a jail with other terrorists?

Hell you can even still have the "We can put our guys in your operation whenever the hell we want to, and you'll never know it until we want you to know it." after he's rubbed his testicles in their faces not once but twice.

Right now the message you've got is "We can put guys in your operation whenever the hell we want to, and you'll never know it until you read about it in the newspaper or on Wikileaks" Hell, all that suggests is that the terrorists really need to infiltrate the newspapers pretty sharpish.

[NGTM-1R]

Wanna bet?

How much info do you think they'd have got if they claimed they'd picked him up just due to some lucky random check (maybe with a hint of a racial profiling in to make the terrorists angry and therefore less likely to think rationally about it) and then just threw him in a jail with some other terror suspects they think have information?

Hell, even just sticking to the story long enough to see who pays for his lawyer might give them new info.

They don't talk among themselves. They don't pay for lawyers for themselves. It's rather like the IRA used to be. The spyhunt paranoia and internal upheaval among the terror groups as they watch each other is worth more.

Also this announcement wasn't for our domestic consumption; it was for the Saudis, as illustration of their government's stance on the issues of terrorism, Islamic radicialism, and who they think their allies are. The Kingdom's foreign policies are in a state of flux. They've been a vocal supporter the Arab Spring revolutions and made recent strong commitments to combating terrorism in their southern neighbors after it spilled across the border a few times too many.

It also serves as a declaration of war; they will use all means within their power.

[MP-Ryan]

The details I've read indicate the operative got out with the tech and turned it over with other information, leading to a drone strike which effectively burned his chances of survival if he went back in.

There's also an important psychological component of the infiltration announcement hitting the media - now these groups get to hunt through their midst and hopefully prune out some actual terrorists on suspicion they are intelligence agents too, which NGTM-1R raised, as well as reduce communication between various groups (which is already shaky) on similar suspicions.

I think disclosure of the method in this case was actually a brilliant move in itself beyond the bomb tech that was obtained.

[Dragon]

Also, don't forget the effect it had on general public, sending a clear message that CIA and other intel agencies can do something against them. This directly counteracts the terrorists efforts to, well, terrorize the population.