# Naeem Noor Khan -- the other shoe drops **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 15, 2005, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naeem-noor-khan-the-other-shoe-drops/312622 "2005-07-15T05:35:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naeem-noor-khan-the-other-shoe-drops/312622/21 "2005-07-15T15:50:54Z")
> [@tagos](#): > > It’s the asshats who aren’t here, the ones who see no damn wrong in anything Bush does I’m ranting at. I don’t see any of the usual moronic, disengenuous, lying sacks of shit here. Well, maybe silence from those asswipes means they’re starting to realize they’ve been defending the indefensible? Nah… -Joe, go D! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naeem-noor-khan-the-other-shoe-drops/312622/22 "2005-07-15T16:23:19Z")
I’m merely keeping quiet until I know enough to comment intelligently. Please don’t interpret an absense of comment from individuals here as an indication of feelings or opinions on a subject, one way or the other. I’ve learned over time that this isn’t a smart tack to take on message boards. ---
**Author:** ![New\_Iskander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/db5fbb/32.png) [@New\_Iskander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Iskander)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naeem-noor-khan-the-other-shoe-drops/312622/23 "2005-07-15T16:29:13Z")
> [@tagos](#): > > It’s the asshats who aren’t here, the ones who see no damn wrong in anything Bush does I’m ranting at. I don’t see any of the usual moronic, disengenuous, lying sacks of shit here. Are you talking to Us, perhaps? Actually, We don’t believe it applies to Us 100%, but let’s dispense with the niceties, shall we? Therefore, We recognize the gentleman from North England. But before you and Us can meaningfully proceed with flinging shit at each other, allow Us to introduce some historical backround to complete the picture. So with your leave… The time is first week of September, 2004. DNC convention just closed with nomination of a certain loser. Cyberspace was thick with suspicions that Bush was going to announce arrests of maybe even Osama in order to sabotage the DNC convention and distract public attention. Ridge raises terror alert. Immediately, miriads of little angry voices scream political opportunism and claim that information used to justify higher alert level is dated back to the year 2001 or even earlier. [From the link previuosly provided:](http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0408/08/le.00.html) > [@](#): > > BLITZER:Senator Schumer, I’ll begin with you. Howard Dean, a week ago on this program, thought there was politics involved in raising the threat level. You’ve been briefed on all of the information, the intelligence. Is politics playing any role in this decision? In resulting hubbab, the name of Khan somehow dropped out. And it was a mistake. And somebody must be punished. And it’s gladdens Our heart to observe that more and more people recognize that we are engaged at war with a real foe and any mistake might turn extremely costly. counting innocent human lives. And it is really touching to observe a new found appreciation for covert operatives among certain type of people, who previously had nothing positive to say about them. And to give credit where credit is due, Sen. Schumer strikes a perfect balance in the following interview. > [@](#): > > SCHUMER: And they could’ve said just what they said to us, to George and I, even in the intelligence briefings, which is what I’ve mentioned before. I mean, it’s public now, so there’s no worry, and they did say it, which is, “We have new information that ties strands together.” > > I mean, there was a day where there was a little bit of – a little (UNINTELLIGIBLE) because they said, “Well, the information about the buildings was old.” Well, the information about the buildings was old, but the information about going after financial centers with truck bombs, with people infiltrating across the borders, was new. > > And I think most people – I mean, you know, Mr. Dean said something that it was political, but I haven’t heard any incumbent Democratic officeholder say it was political. I certainly don’t think so. > > And by the way, on this release of Khan’s name, I’m not saying it was done for political reasons or even for malicious reasons. But I think we ought to know why, because I agree with George, it’s great that we got him, and we’re making great strides in intelligence – although British and Pakistani intelligence seem to be doing a little better than us because they have more on-the-ground human intelligence – but we should maximize what we can get out of these things. > > And it doesn’t aid the public that much to know that it’s this man, Khan. They have found a new guy, that it gives new information, I think the public would be satisfied with that. I agree with George. And they shouldn’t have put this – it seems to me they shouldn’t have put this name out. > > Now, maybe there’s a reason for it. And that’s why I’ve asked National Security Advisor Townsend today for an explanation to us. We’d like to conclude this little historical expose with Our heart felt, “Fuck off” adressed personally to the gentleman from North England, who prefers to be known under ridiculous monicker of ‘tagos’. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naeem-noor-khan-the-other-shoe-drops/312622/24 "2005-07-15T16:39:30Z")
> [@Pochacco](#): > > The linkage between last summer’s intelligence bungle and the London attacks is just beginning to ripple through the blogosphere. I don’t think it’s made it to the mainstream media yet. But it shouldn’t take long … . Trickling through what blogoshpere? Is there a credible blog out there where someone is putting forth this connection? Seriously? That will certainly be a big story if it bears out the way people here are thinking, but, people in this thread are making a big to-do right now and about the only thing I’ve seen to justify it are a couple of musings here in this thread. Nothing at huffington. Nothing at andrewsullivan. Just what blogosphere is this trickling through? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naeem-noor-khan-the-other-shoe-drops/312622/25 "2005-07-15T16:50:12Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > Trickling through what blogoshpere? [Juan Cole](http://www.juancole.com/) for example: [The Ghost of Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan](http://www.juancole.com/2005/07/ghost-of-muhammad-naeem-noor-khan-john.html) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naeem-noor-khan-the-other-shoe-drops/312622/26 "2005-07-15T16:58:06Z")
I’d cut that text and paste it somewhere, just in case. Mr. Cole has an interesting habit of making things disappear from his blog if they prove embarassing later. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naeem-noor-khan-the-other-shoe-drops/312622/27 "2005-07-15T17:00:09Z")
OK. I don’t know him. I think that it’s clear that he’s indicating that people are still just speculating. I’m not dismissing it. He hasn’t really said much though. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naeem-noor-khan-the-other-shoe-drops/312622/28 "2005-07-15T17:09:38Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#): > > Mr. Cole has an interesting habit of making things disappear from his blog if they prove embarassing later. I know this is the Pit and all, but cite? I’ve not noticed Mr. Cole doing that. ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naeem-noor-khan-the-other-shoe-drops/312622/29 "2005-07-15T17:09:45Z")
Damn, **New Iskander** , you should really lay off the alcohol when posting. Especially in the Pit. It kind of gets in the way of pretending to not be an asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naeem-noor-khan-the-other-shoe-drops/312622/30 "2005-07-15T17:27:32Z")
> [@New Iskander](#): > > We’d like to conclude this little historical expose with Our heart felt, “Fuck off” adressed personally to the gentleman from North England, who prefers to be known under ridiculous monicker of ‘tagos’. You are nearly the dumbest cunt here. _Nearly._ I mean, I cannot recall reading anything you have written and not speculated to myself about your cognitive functioning. Are you suggesting that it was Senator Schumer who released the information? Are you suggesting that Schumer was the one Rice was referring to about the release, confirming that the administration released the info “on deep background?” How the fuck could that be? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naeem-noor-khan-the-other-shoe-drops/312622/31 "2005-07-15T17:27:46Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > I know this is the Pit and all, but cite? I’ve not noticed Mr. Cole doing that. [Proof here, along with saved pages and Google caches. Plus, Cole’s attempts to defend this practice.](http://sandbox.blog-city.com/making_cole_slaw_of_history.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naeem-noor-khan-the-other-shoe-drops/312622/32 "2005-07-15T17:28:45Z")
> [@Talon Karrde](#): > > Damn, **New Iskander** , you should really lay off the alcohol when posting. Especially in the Pit. It kind of gets in the way of pretending to not be an asshole. Pfft. Since when does he pretend? I only wish is identical twin **Ryan\_Liam** was around. They were so adorable they way they’d switch clothes and pretend to be each other. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naeem-noor-khan-the-other-shoe-drops/312622/33 "2005-07-15T18:33:21Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#): > > [Proof here, along with saved pages and Google caches. Plus, Cole’s attempts to defend this practice.](http://sandbox.blog-city.com/making_cole_slaw_of_history.htm) Thanks **Mr. Moto**. I’m not sure that constitutes proof, but you know how hard that is to get on weasely bloggers. I’ve known that Cole wanders past the edges of rationality at times, but didn’t know that a significant group of people also accuse him of _cheating_. That aside, the [“Noor Khan” story](http://news.google.com/news?num=50&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&scoring=d&q=%22Noor+Khan%22&btnG=Search+News) is making a splash the news today, 1340 hits by 1:30pm. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naeem-noor-khan-the-other-shoe-drops/312622/34 "2005-07-15T18:55:26Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > I’ve known that Cole wanders past the edges of rationality at times, but didn’t know that a significant group of people also accuse him of _cheating_. Just a question. If you think that Cole is irrational at times, why did you reply with him as an example when **Trunk** asked for a cite from a credible blog? Do you find him irrational, yet credible? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naeem-noor-khan-the-other-shoe-drops/312622/35 "2005-07-15T19:18:28Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#): > > Do you find him irrational, yet credible? Sure, on many topics. We all go irrational over one thing or another, that doesn’t mean that everything we post is BS. If I were to insist on using only websites that never change the ‘facts’ after they’re printed, I’d have to stop using [whitehouse.gov](http://whitehouse.gov) too, and that’s just not practical. Cole’s a fairly well respected blogger, however, it’s always good to remember that he’s got his little agenda too. **Trunk** asked for an example of which blogosphere the Noor Khan story was trickling through. I gave him one. There was no reason to link to Redstate’s current [Anti-Cole Screed](http://www.redstate.org/story/2005/7/15/132729/868), and to your credit, I see you avoided it too. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naeem-noor-khan-the-other-shoe-drops/312622/36 "2005-07-15T19:29:21Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#): > > I’m merely keeping quiet until I know enough to comment intelligently. Okay, who’s the guy at GOP Spin Control Center who’s sleeping on the job today? **Moto** needs some talking points to parrot, dammit! ---
**Author:** ![New\_Iskander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/db5fbb/32.png) [@New\_Iskander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Iskander)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naeem-noor-khan-the-other-shoe-drops/312622/37 "2005-07-15T19:46:30Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > Are you suggesting that it was Senator Schumer who released the information? Are you suggesting that Schumer was the one Rice was referring to about the release, confirming that the administration released the info “on deep background?” How the fuck could that be? I offered praise for Chuck. Sorry about misunderstanding. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naeem-noor-khan-the-other-shoe-drops/312622/38 "2005-07-15T20:09:51Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Okay, who’s the guy at GOP Spin Control Center who’s sleeping on the job today? **Moto** needs some talking points to parrot, dammit! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![New\_Iskander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/db5fbb/32.png) [@New\_Iskander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Iskander)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naeem-noor-khan-the-other-shoe-drops/312622/39 "2005-07-15T21:36:13Z")
> [@Pochacco](#): > > I don’t think it’s made it to the mainstream media yet. But it shouldn’t take long … . Don’t expect the media push that story, because the are complicit in the whole fiasco. They went to WH in September '04 demanding proof there is any fresh intelligence to justify raising terror alert. WH gave out Khan’s name in response. Media publicized the name. Now it turns out there was a chance to prevent London teracts if Khan’s name weren’t made public. How can media blame it on WH without taking part of the blame? ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naeem-noor-khan-the-other-shoe-drops/312622/40 "2005-07-15T21:43:39Z")
There is no defense for this either deliberate or accidental repeated leaking of information, which compromises national security and/or the war effort (such as it is). I don’t care about some blogger named Cole. It is irrelevant. What is relevant is, our “government” feels comfortable in leaking damaging info whenever it suits their immediate personal political needs. There is no possible defense of this. None. We know of three such leaks so far. How many don’t we know about? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naeem-noor-khan-the-other-shoe-drops/312622.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naeem-noor-khan-the-other-shoe-drops/312622.md?page=3)