After going dormant for a while, attacks on dissent against the Obama administration have returned. As Salon’s Glenn Greenwald points out, a “senior American counterterrorism official” suggested that critics of US drone strikes in Pakistan want to help Al Qaeda (emphasis added):

British and Pakistani journalists said Sunday that the C.I.A.’s drone strikes on suspected militants in Pakistan have repeatedly targeted rescuers who responded to the scene of a strike, as well as mourners at subsequent funerals.

The report, by the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism, found that at least 50 civilians had been killed in follow-up strikes after they rushed to help those hit by a drone-fired missile. The bureau counted more than 20 other civilians killed in strikes on funerals. The findings were published on the bureau’s Web site and in The Sunday Times of London…

A senior American counterterrorism official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, questioned the report’s findings, saying “targeting decisions are the product of intensive intelligence collection and observation.” The official added: “One must wonder why an effort that has so carefully gone after terrorists who plot to kill civilians has been subjected to so much misinformation. Let’s be under no illusions — there are a number of elements who would like nothing more than to malign these efforts and help Al Qaeda succeed.”

I’ve added this smear to my timeline of attacks on dissent against the Obama administration, which follow a long series of Republican attacks on dissent since 9/11. It’s one of the ugliest parts of the war on terror.