But some top priorities are more top than others

The CIA has reported shut down the special unit it had focusing on apprehending Osama bin Laden and his top cronies.  The unit had been in existence since before 9/11.

The officials told the Times that the change reflects a view that al Qaeda’s hierarchy has changed, and terrorist attacks inspired by the group are now being carried out independently of bin Laden and his second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri.

The CIA said hunting bin Laden remains a priority, but resources needed to be directed toward other people and groups likely to initiate new attacks.

“The efforts to find Osama bin Laden are as strong as ever,” said CIA spokeswoman Jennifer Millerwise Dyck.  “This is an agile agency, and the decision was made to ensure greater reach and focus.”

The problem is, while there may be very real and compelling reasons for this particular reorganization, the politics of it are far more problematic.  And this is, in fact, a case where politics needs to come into play for what otherwise might be strictly practical decision-making.  One could, for example (and giving the decision the benefit of the doubt), imagine a story denigrating this particular unit.  “The CIA maintained Station ‘Alec’ for years beyond its usefulness.  One source complained,
‘Bin Laden wasn’t key to terror attacks any more, but the White House pressured us to keep the hunt up because of how it would look to pull back.  These resources could have been better focused in Iraq and Afghanistan at resurgent al Qa’eda cells and new leaders.'” And if that’s so, then this was a good decision, and choosing otherwise would be politically damaging.

But … the politics have to do not so much with what was done in this case (again, presuming the decision was the correct one), but with how it was done.  Bush has made lots of noise in the past (not recently, but within living memory) of taking down OBL for the 9-11 attacks.  By doing this all very quietly, the political ramifications and assumptions swing in the other direction.  “Hey,” folks might well argue, “Bush has been calling OBL Public Enemy Number 1
for years, swearing never to rest until he’s found — but now he’s secretly giving up on the whole thing.  For shame!” 

Once again, the tone-deaf nature of the Administration’s penchant for secrecy works against it.  They would doubtless argue that by keeping it secret, it assisted in the operational effectiveness of the CIA and kept OBL on the run.  But secrets like this are a limited lifespan, which But by making it all hush-hush, rather than by putting reasonable spin on it, they’ve also lost the opportunity to adjust expectations and rationales for these intelligence efforts intelligently and pro-actively. 
Which, alas, is also a hallmark of this Administration.

(via J-Walk)