Christopher Ruddy
Monday, March 10, 2003

When Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was captured in Pakistan earlier this month, the U.S. government moved quickly to announce his capture.

Then, almost immediately, there was a leak that the authorities had his laptop, with the names and addresses of al-Qaeda sleeper cells worldwide.

Then it was leaked that Mohammed’s cell phone, now in the hands of authorities, was revealing new information.

And then it was publicized that Mohammed was talking. Almost from the day of his capture, Mohammed was talking.

No doubt, the U.S. government wants to smoke out the terrorists.

The “smoke” is the claim – maybe true, maybe not – that the U.S. now knows where the sleeper cells are and what they may be doing.

Could this cause a rash of terrorist acts – as NewsMax first reported – and later confirmed by the FBI in a warning issued last week?

Of course it could.

Now you’re scratching your head wondering why the U.S. government would want the terrorists to act.

There are several reasons.

First, the U.S. government knows that when terrorist groups have to break from well-laid plans and move hastily, they are more apt to make mistakes. When they make mistakes, they are more apt to be uncovered.

Another reason for all the leaks is that authorities may not have all of the sleeper details and Mohammed is not talking as fast as they say he is.

By making the claim, the U.S. is playing psychological warfare and trying to force the sleepers to surface out of fear they will soon be uncovered.

In fact, if the U.S. government had gathered all of the intelligence it claimed after the Mohammed arrest, there would have been fewer leaks. If the U.S really knew where all the sleepers were, why announce it?

Smoking out the terrorists is a smart strategy, and it may just work.

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Al-Qaeda
War on Terrorism

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