SECRECY NEWS is an email publication of
the Federation of American Scientists (FAS)
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informal coverage of new developments in secrecy,
security and intelligence policies, as well
as links to new acquisitions on the Federation
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is published 2 to 3 times a week, or as events
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It has often been loosely asserted that U.S. intelligence lost its
ability to monitor Osama bin Ladin's cell phone conversations after
its ability to do so was leaked to the media.
The 9/11 Commission report has now presented an authoritative
account of the matter, and it specifies an unauthorized disclosure
to the Washington Times as the event that triggered the loss:
"...Worst of all, al Qaeda's senior leadership had stopped using a
particular means of communication almost immediately after a leak
to the Washington Times. This made it much more difficult for the
National Security Agency to intercept his [bin Ladin's]
conversations."
See page 127 in Chapter 4 of the Commission Report:
The Commission footnote (chapter 4, no. 105) refers to a front page
story in the Washington Times on August 21, 1998 entitled
"Terrorist is Driven by Hatred for U.S., Israel," by Martin Sieff,
and to interviews with several intelligence community officials.
That Washington Times story stated in passing that "He [bin Ladin]
keeps in touch with the world via computers and satellite phones
and has given occasional interviews to international news
organizations, including Time magazine and CNN News."
