American intelligence agencies have intercepted a vague yet troubling series of communications among Al Qaeda operatives over the last few months indicating that the terrorist organization is trying to carry out an operation as big as the September 11 attacks or bigger.

CYA. No one wants to appear caught off-guard, so they leak "news" like this even though it enables little in the way of an actionable response.

Much like "Intel cuts prices, increases clock rates", this is not news precisely because it is happening all the time.

Why don't we stories like this: "The FBI has intercepted a vague yet troubling series of communications among mobsters indicating that the organization is trying to pull off a financial scam as big as Enron or bigger."

What might be news? If we were listening and watching closely, but heard nothing at all.

U.S. Intercepting Messages Hinting at a New Attack