Loose lips - not in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Two weeks after an alleged plot to blow up U.S.-bound airliners was thwarted in Britain, Pakistani authorities have screwed tight the faucet that had trickled intriguing details from their investigation.

The above quote is from FoxNews.com @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,210404,00.html.

The thing about the statement and the whole article is that you get the feeling, or at least I get the feeling, that at least as far as the writer of the article, and maybe one or two others quoted in the article, it is implied this tight lipped trait on the part of the Pakistani government is a bad thing.

I see it as a great thing. Read the article and see if you agree with me. By being tight lipped, the Pakistani government is not keeping the information from the British, or from other friendly governments who need the info to conduct investigations of terrorists; but they are keeping the information from being leaked to such folks as those in: the media, in terrorist organizations, and to others who do not have a need to know. Good for Pakistan.

It is about time that some government shows some restraint in the amount of information they release or leak, to the media, the public, and to government bodies that do nothing but then blab it to the press, about these investigations. If you say - hey wait a minute, I am the general public - well just let me remind you that so too are the members of al Qaeda. Any leaked information, even about the names of those who are being detained could give a tactical edge to the bad guys. This would not be good. As it stands now, without this information being released, they have to wonder who is being detained, what knowledge might the detainees have that is potentially available to those detaining them, and so on. Keep them in the dark, and it gives the good guys an advantage to some extent at least. If the news media or the public does not get the information as soon as they would like, well in the words of Sister Walter Phillip (a nun of the Dominican order from my grammar school days): Tough Noogies!

It is about time that at least one government in the war against terrorism showed some sense in this regard, my hat goes off to Pakistan.

All the best,

Glenn B