Qaeda Goes Dark After a U.S. Slip  —  Enemy Vanishes From Its Web Sites  —  WASHINGTON — Al Qaeda's Internet communications system has suddenly gone dark to American intelligence after the leak of Osama bin Laden's September 11 speech inadvertently disclosed the fact that we had penetrated the enemy's system.

Uh, About that "Leak" That Burned Our al Qaeda Intel  —  I know what the NY Sun and Washington Post are saying about a major source of intel being burned by a leak, but it just isn't so.  Rita Katz and the SITE Institute do a great job, but attributing the interception of this video to them is just false.

Today's Must Read  —  Call it a deal with the devil, but the House Democrats are set to offer compromise legislation that would allow the administration to conduct warrantless surveillance.  The trade-off seems clear.  —  The bill would allow so-called "umbrella" warrants from the FISA Court …

Democrats Seem Ready to Extend Wiretap Powers  —  Two months after insisting that they would roll back broad eavesdropping powers won by the Bush administration, Democrats in Congress appear ready to make concessions that could extend some crucial powers given to the National Security Agency.

AL QAEDA GOES DARK  —  Eli Lake has the story of the day in today's New York Sun: "Qaeda goes dark after a U.S. slip."  Lake reports that the September 7 Osama bin Laden video (the one with the funny looking black beard) was picked up by Rita Katz's SITE Institute and provided to the National Counterterrorism Center:

Court grants no new cases, turns down CIA case  —  The Supreme Court granted no new cases Tuesday and, in a major action, refused to reopen the question of the government's power to limit or scuttle lawsuits by claiming that "state secrets" have to be protected.