are we underestimating the enemy?

One of the worst defenses of the spying program that has been implemented for the last few years is this emerging attack on whomever it was that leaked the spy program.

From the Washington Post:

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), speaking on Fox, agreed that finding out who leaked details of the spying program is crucial "because whoever leaked this information has done the U.S. and its national security a great disservice."

But he said the investigation may be more appropriately handled by the Senate Intelligence Committee, where many discussions are held behind closed doors. "We're talking about this entirely too much out in public as a result of these leaks and it's endangering our efforts to make Americans more secure," McConnell said.

Bush has said that “the fact that somebody leaked this program causes great harm to the United States" and that "[t]here’s an enemy out there.”

The problem I have is that conservatives are underestimating the very enemy Bush speaks of.

Conservatives honestly believe that al Qaeda doesn't already assume that we are making as many efforts as we can to intercepting as much of their communications as possible. Conservatives think that the leak of the spy program is somehow shocking to our enemy; Cons think that the terrorists know they are taking on one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world, but we aren't using any of that technology to track thier communications.

I'm not even considering anything like whether or not the wiretappings were indeed legal or constitutional or not. I have no interest in that debate, as it is already being throughly examined. My concern is that the people who are controlling the campaign to minimize terrorism have no respect for our enemy. The thought that terrorists are using your typical, household land lines and cellular communications is laughable. One conjures up images of bin Laden sitting on the back porch of a cave in the middle of the desert, kicking it back with a lemonade and twisting the phone cord around his finger while gabbing about the latest al Qaeda plots. This simply isn't happening.

In chess, a player is taught to never assume that your opponent doesn't know everything that you know about the position. You're sopposed to presume that they know you know that they know that you know, basically. Yet here we are, assuming that our opponents never thought we'd be tapping their communications. Bushies are assuming terrorists don't know that we know they know what we know... or something.

Maybe conservatives don't play chess...