oh. my. god.

Via Digby:

NBC News has learned that U.S. and British authorities had a significant disagreement over when to move in on the suspects in the alleged plot to bring down trans-Atlantic airliners bound for the United States.

A senior British official knowledgeable about the case said British police were planning to continue to run surveillance for at least another week to try to obtain more evidence, while American officials pressured them to arrest the suspects sooner. The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the case.

And there's this:

In contrast to previous reports, the official suggested an attack was not imminent, saying the suspects had not yet purchased any airline tickets. In fact, some did not even have passports.

From the comments to a Thursday Carpetbagger post, Jim Strain says,

From what I heard on the radio this morning, Bushco only learned about the plot from (Yo) Blair within the past week. Thank God they didn't learn it sooner — woulda given 'em more time to fuck it up.

My response was,

What Jim said. The British authorities learned their lesson the hard way.

Date: August 7, 2004:

A captured Al Qaeda computer whiz was E-mailing his comrades as part of a sting operation to nab other top terrorists when U.S. officials blew his cover, sources said yesterday.

Within hours of Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan's name being publicized Monday, British police launched lightning raids that netted a dozen suspected Al Qaeda terrorists, including one who was nabbed after a high-speed car chase...

...Now British and Pakistani intelligence officials are furious with the Americans for unmasking their super spy - apparently to justify the orange alert - and for naming the other captured terrorist suspects.

Good diary at DailyKos by ksh01 ties up a lot of loose threads. I'm speechless. Feeling nice and safe now? Vote Democratic in November.