Despite the squealing from the administration to the contrary, I don’t think any thinking person now doubts that the raising of the “Orange Alert” for the financial districts last week was politically motivated. The data was 3-4 years old, there was no indication of date or timing at all, and the timing was obviously intended to disrupt any positive spin from the Democratic convention.

Now CNN reports:

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) — The effort by U.S. officials to justify raising the terror alert level last week may have shut down an important source of information that has already led to a series of al Qaeda arrests, Pakistani intelligence sources have said.

Until U.S. officials leaked the arrest of Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan to reporters, Pakistan had been using him in a sting operation to track down al Qaeda operatives around the world, the sources said.

Maybe I’m a cynic, but it this is either both complete incompetence and utter disregard for one of our “allies” in the so called war on terror, or clear evidence that the administration puts politics above their professed concern for that war.

Take your pick.

Oh, and American dead total is now 930. That counts only american military, by the way, not the contractors and mercenaries that the military is counting on to such an extent in this war. Shouldn’t those numbers be published too? Strangely, I suppose, they are very difficult to find.

Still no WMD.