The FBI and others are ticked at the BBC for blowing their cover, and rightly so. But how did our counter-spies come to let the cat out of the bag anyway? BBC should never have known in the first place.
Less than 48 hours after Americans boasted they had caught a Briton trying to sell missiles to terrorists, their "incredible triumph" descended into recriminations, including the claim that the BBC ruined a larger operation by breaking news of the arrest.Posted by Alan at August 14, 2003 09:07 PMThe BBC, already regarded as anti-American by many US conservatives, was accused yesterday of wrecking the 18-month operation that ended up netting only Hemant Lakhani, a 68-year-old London businessman with no known terrorist links.
Unnamed "top officials" from the US Justice Department told Newsweek magazine they were "fuming" that the BBC's leak "may have blown a rare opportunity to penetrate al-Qa'eda's arms-buying network".
via The Telegraph (UK)