LOOSE LIPS LET TERRORISTS SLIP

Stop it. Juan Cole confirms that the U.S. did, indeed, blow the cover of a double agent in current e-mail contact with an Al Qaeda cell:

The Bush administration revealed Khan's name to US journalists on Sunday August 1 on background, and it appeared in the US press on Monday. The Bush administration thus effectively outed Khan as a double agent (he sent emails to his London contacts as late as Monday).

The British MI5 was forced to have the London cell of 13 arrested immediately on Tuesday, fearing that they would flee now that they knew Khan had been arrested two weeks earlier. The British do not, however, appear to have finished gathering enough evidence to prosecute the 13 in the courts successfully.

It now turns out, according to Neville, that "Reports last week also claimed that five al Qaida militants were on the run in the UK after escaping capture in last Tuesday’s raids." If this is true, it is likely that the 5 went underground on hearing that Khan was in custody. That is, the loose lips of the Bush administration enabled them to flee arrest.
...
One of the 9, Abu Eisa al-Hindi, is a high al-Qaeda official also wanted by the US. Because Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan's identity was prematurely released, however, the British may not have enough evidence to extradite him.

WHY IS THIS STORY NOT ALL OVER THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA????? Is it just because it wasn't included in the daily Republican Talking Points memo?

UPDATE: Spencer Ackerman has more. I'm really almost paralyzed by this story. I thought I was pretty cynical, but this is such a clear example of acting against the interests of the American public as well as the world community in favor of short-term political gain, that it takes my breath away. It makes me want to snatch the flag out of their hands lest they foul it any further!