He promised the assembled staff and analysts that if they keep applying themselves, they won't be personally marked for career-destroying sanctions or criminal prosecutions, even as disbelieving counterterrorism professionals -- the field operatives and their foreign partners -- shut down critical operations for fear of public disclosure and political retribution in the never-ending Beltway soap opera called Capitol Hill.
Keenan says he believes the Algerians see some benefit in the "specter" of al Qaeda roaming the desert because it heightens their importance to the United States as a partner in counterterrorism -- even as they simultaneously lead regional efforts to co-operate against extremist groups.