One of the dangers to US security posed by the Federal court trial of KSM is what the terrorists can obtain through the course of normal pre-trial discovery. Federal court rules require that the government turn over lots of evidence to the defense pertaining to the case. After 9/11 the CIA, NSA and other intelligence agencies turned the full glare of this country's intelligence assets on identifying and locating those responsible for the attack. It goes without saying that the true capabilities of a lot of intelligence assets have not been made public. It is also true that if how intelligence is gathered is revealed, then countermeasures are possible. This has already happened.
Charles Krauthammer quotes Michael Mukasey, the presiding judge at the trial of the jihadists who attempted the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993, as saying that when the defense demanded and received the list of unindicted co-conspirators list from the government, bin Laden's name was on it and he had the list within 10 days. Bin Laden knew that we had "made" him and he went to ground to minimize our ability to keep tabs on him and what he was up to. This was a prelude, of course, to one of the greatest intelligence failures in American history - the 9/11 attacks.
So what can we conclude? I think that it is reasonable to assume that the jihadists are about to get an intelligence windfall. I think that it is also reasonable to assume that they will adjust and adapt their methods, just like they did after 1993. Finally, I think that it is reasonable to assume that they will use this information to craft a new plan to hit us again, just like 9/11, only bigger and better. All of this is unnecessary and courtesy of President Obama, who is doing this for political reasons to shore up his left flank. In my lifetime I have never seen anyone so cavalier with the national security of the mainland United States.
townhall.com/columnists/CharlesKrauthammer/2009/11/20/travesty_in_new_york
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