Bush Administration Blows Cover of al Qaeda Operative

Ann Coulter is often fond of characterizing Liberals as traitors to their country -- simply because they're Democrats and not Republicans, I gather. I wonder how she feels about some of those inside the Bush administration who have committed actual acts of treason, such as leaking the names of under-cover CIA agents, thus seriously compromising not only their cover, but their lives -- and the most recent outrage: Bush administration officials gave reporters the name of Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan, al Qaeda's computer/Internet guru who was captured by the Pakistanis -- but who was actually a double-agent, still cooperating with Pakistani authorities as part of a sting operation against Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network. Khan led authorities to a key al Qaeda figure and sent e-mails to terrorists so investigators could trace their locations, which resulted in the capture of 20 al Qaeda suspects and numerous raids in Great Britain.

But all of that was squandered by Bush officials in an effort to blow their own horn and to score political brownie points. The CIA has tried -- and failed -- for years to get an undercover operative inside al Qaeda -- but after we finally secure one, the Republicans blow it.

This is the administration that claims to be the best bet for combating terrorism and keeping American's safe. And yet they're quite willing to expose undercover agents simply to settle petty political scores, or to gain brownie points.

We can easily predict how Ms Coulter (who makes Twiggy look like Mama Cass) would view the exposure of Joe Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, since it was another well-known Conservative, Robert Novak, who published her name in his syndicated column -- even after the CIA advised him not to do so. But if Ms Coulter finds herself at a loss for words to characterize the (at best) gross incompetence of the Bush administration for blowing the cover of a long-desired operative inside al Qaeda, let me suggest one for her: treason.