Regular American Thinker readers have understood that the Administration and our military forces have not only had to contend with a determined enemy on the field of battle, but have also had to deal with adversaries within their own organizations.  These agents of influence routinely use legacy media press outlets to deliberately undermine our efforts in the Global War on terror in a well—executed information warfare campaign .  In one case, a Time Magazine reporter became embedded with units involved with the heavy fighting this past summer — except he was embedded with the terrorists, not Coalition forces.

The American people are routinely treated to major press accounts about (take your pick) Iraq reconstruction disasters, Pentagon and US forces screw—ups, failure to predict enemy actions with 100 percent accuracy, etc.  In most cases, their sources are the ever—popular 'unnamed intelligence sources,' who provide the basis for sensational assertions without attribution or corroborating evidence, and always in conflict with the Administration.

The recent flap over the missing explosives at the bunker complex at Al—Qaqaa is no exception in this mode of major media operation.  The UN and IAEA's incompetence in controlling banned substances has been well—documented, and Kerry's slamming of the President and our troops, in conjunction with a coordinated media campaign, has finally busted the patience of the Pentagon.  Today's Inside the Ring column by Gertz and Scarborough in The Washington Times gives us a clear confirmation of this internal war:

The speed with which the campaign of Sen. John Kerry exploited the issue also has raised suspicions in the Pentagon that U.S. intelligence agencies helped the Kerry campaign with the story, at least until it began to fall apart shortly after the report appeared in the New York Times on Monday.

As President Bush has said, we won't know the full extent of our operations in the War on Terror for many years to come.  Hopefully, our internal enemies are also being dealt with to ensure our ultimate victory.

Douglas Hanson   10—29—04