US Cold War Defeat in Lebanon

First, Hizbullah is now undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with in the scope of intelligence and not just in military warfare. The latest revelations come after Hizbullah secretary general Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah revealed in June that Hizbullah had uncovered two CIA informants in its ranks, which he described as a major intelligence achievement against the best intelligence agency in the world. Now the verification by American officials who describe Hizbullah as "an accomplished intelligence organization" further underscores that the movement has indeed moved to yet another higher level.

Second, after military warfare proved to be a failure for the US and its allies (as can be seen in Iraq and Afghanistan, not to mention the July 2006 war) the focus is now on a type of cold war involving espionage and assassinations (though cold war may aim to weaken in a prelude to military warfare).This cold war became apparent when Hizbullah's former top military commander Imad Mughnieh was assassinated in Damascus back in February 2008. What also makes this cold war evident is that Pentagon chiefs, whether the former defense secretary Robert Gates or the current defense secretary Leon Panetta both come from CIA backgrounds (We have to recall here that Gates was appointed as defense secretary in the midst of huge military problems for the US).Another example is the assassination of Osama Bin Laden which also falls within the realm of cold war and in which the CIA played a very big role. The US talk of Iran's involvement in assassination also comes within the context of cold war though it was ridiculed by most people

Moreover, while there is a focus on cold war and while the US and its allies have achieved some successes like the assassination of Bin Laden, this development in Lebanon is another example that the US and its allies are also vulnerable in this type of war as well. There was also the assassination of Hamas official Mahmoud Mabhouh in Dubai back in January 2010 by Mossad operatives. While the operatives succeeded in carrying out the assassination the whole thing was caught on camera and it was proven that the operatives had used fake passports from European countries and Australia that led to expulsion of Mossad representatives from these countries. This was considered a huge failure in the world of espionage and intelligence.

This capture of CIA operatives by Hizbullah and Lebanese security services will definitely make it much more difficult for the CIA to recruit new informants in a country which is known to be strategic geopolitically (assuming that there is still a station for the CIA in Lebanon). And what makes this even more significant is that it comes in the midst of the Syrian crisis when the US will want to use Lebanon as an arena for intelligence gathering on Syria.
After mentioning all these points the question which remains is why did US officials leak this information?

There are two main probabilities:

This confession may mean that the US and the CIA has turned a page in a specific procedure of operations and will begin with a new procedure or new ways to confront its enemies like Hizbullah. Or this announcement might be part of a process to open some kind of channel of communication with Hizbullah. The media reports spoke of US concern over the fate of CIA informants.

But is the US really concerned for these informants or is this a cover to open a channel of communication with Hezbollah as part of US political adjustments to deal with the new realities and the rise of the resistance bloc. These political adjustments are clear in the American efforts to communicate with Iran and now there may be an attempt to communicate with its allies.