"Doubts about whether interrogators can employ coercive methods, officials said, could create problems at the start of a critical summer period when counterterrorism officials fear that Al Qaida might attack the United States."

Why are interrogators suddenly beset with doubts?

Though the paper doesn't expressly say so, the reason is clear enough. Thanks to the obsessive coverage by the Times and the rest of the press of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, U.S. intelligence gathering efforts have been thrown into chaos.

As the paper explains, U.S. interrogation methods are currently undergoing a top-to-bottom review, leaving intelligence officials "uncertain what rules are in effect."

While the terrorists have less to fear from U.S. interrogators, the Times admits that the interrogators themselves are now "worried that the legal safeguards that they had believed were in place to protect them from internal sanctions or criminal liability may no longer exist."

So if and when the U.S. experiences "problems" this summer - say, a dirty nuke exploding in the heart of Times Square in the middle of the GOP convention - here's hoping that al Qaida kingpin Abu Musab al Zarqawi remembers his manners, and doesn't forget to thank the folks who made it all possible.

Editor's note: