Cherry-picking Intelligence

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For Vice President Joe Biden and some senior Obama White House staff members (we do not know the position of the president yet), the alleged weakness and ineffectiveness of al-Qaida is sufficient justification for ending our major ground troop presence in Afghanistan.

The current discussion of al-Qaida's capacities in Afghanistan is being carried out with cherry-picked intelligence. The assertion of al-Qaida's weakness by the White House is merely an excuse to justify the political decision that already has been made (by some) to get out of Afghanistan.

On Sept. 30, the Post ran a spectacular front-page, above-the-fold lead story, headlined

"Success Against al-Qaeda Cited: Infiltration of Network Is a Factor as Administration Debates Afghanistan Policy."

The White House-fed article leaked to the Post by "senior U.S. officials, who spoke about intelligence matters on the condition of anonymity," expressly argued that al-Qaida had been penetrated recently by our spies and other intelligence and can be hit by drones and that therefore, such "an improved counterterrorism effort" is

"evidence that Obama's principal objective -- destroying al-Qaeda -- can be achieved without an expanded troop presence."

The next day, the Pentagon responded through Jake Tapper's blog on ABC News' Web site, arguing that those successes were

"largely because of better intelligence, stemming from a stronger U.S. counter-insurgency program on the other side of the border in Afghanistan."

Nor, regarding al-Qaida's alleged inability to reach young Muslims nowadays, was the Post reporter directed by the White House leakers to FBI Director Robert Mueller's testimony last week that al-Qaida in Somalia is having great success with al-Shabab, which translates as "mujahedeen youth." "They could strike the United States," the FBI director testified.

We must trust that the president will not permit himself to be misled by some of his most senior aides, who clearly are trying to cherry-pick the intelligence to gain their political objectives rather than honestly assess the intelligence on behalf of our national security needs.

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