Score a big one for our intelligence services:

The Taliban’s top military commander was captured several days ago in Karachi, Pakistan, in a secret joint operation by Pakistani and American intelligence forces, according to American government officials.

The commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, is an Afghan described by American officials as the most significant Taliban figure to be detained since the American-led war in Afghanistan started more than eight years ago. He ranks second in influence only to Mullah Muhammad Omar, the Taliban’s founder and a close associate of Osama bin Laden before the Sept. 11 attacks.

Kudos particularly to Leon Panetta, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and President Obama.  Does seem that he has a sound policy on Afghanistan.  And here, while our intelligence forces carried out the operations, the Administration authorized it.  As with his choice of General Stanley McChrystal, it seems Obama has tapped good people to fight the Taliban in this theater of operations.  Gotta give him credit for that.

And when Obama gets things right, the New York Times (who appears to have broken the story) shows its true colors.  First, read this passage:

The New York Times learned of the operation on Thursday, but delayed reporting it at the request of White House officials, who contended that making it public would end a hugely successful intelligence-gathering effort. The officials said that the group’s leaders had been unaware of Mullah Baradar’s capture and that if it became public they might cover their tracks and become more careful about communicating with each other.

The Times is publishing the news now because White House officials acknowledged that the capture of Mullah Baradar was becoming widely known in the region.

Now, Michelle Malkin’s analysis:

Fancy that. The terror-tipping NYT blabbermouths who repeatedly undermined national security during the Bush years by disclosing sensitive/classified information about many key counterrorism programs are now sensitive to ongoing counterterrorism operations. The paper that went to court to force the government to release classified information about jihadis and has shown reckless disregard for the consequences of disclosure is now delaying reports at the request of White House officials.

Wonder if that has anything to do with the partisan affiliation of those officials.