[THEWEEK] There are two reasons why the government would tolerate this type of leak. One: The threat was so severe that the only way to prevent it was to expose the plot completely, showing al Qaeda that the U.S. had penetrated so deeply into their organization that the big boss's double-top-secret conference call was recorded. It's the counter-terrorism equivalent of face up poker. There's an element of brinksmanship in this approach.

Two: The U.S. intelligence community might want al Qaeda to shift its communication methods because the new method al Qaeda ends up with might be more intercept-friendly in the future, or the U.S. believes that certain al Qaeda members it keeps under constant surveillance will help them quickly figure out the new method.

Note that several early articles referred to the (Yemeni) interception of a courier, which might -- might -- mean that the U.S. got its hands on a copy of the tape and does NOT have al Qaeda pinned to the wall. IF the U.S knew where the conference call took place, they ostensibly have a very good bead on Ayman al-Zawahiri's head, too.

Or, the leaks could be completely unauthorized.

If another big, bad leak investigation is soon, ah, leaked, then we'll know. Until then, let's just say that something doesn't look quite right.