As we discovered in our investigation, something as seemingly benign as White House email can have freaky national security consequences.

Unfortunately, the freaky nature of the problem can be hidden in all the technical arcana of the topic. This seems to be a truth about Washington in general. You have to dig through mounds and mounds of obfuscation to get at the truth -- and even when you do, the different tendrils of different truths can wrap around each other, making the whole nearly impossible to untangle.

As I dug deeper into how the White House manages email, knowing what I do about how email works, the tiny little hairs on the back of my neck started to stand up. As I started to think about the implications from the perspective of our country's security, I realized this was no longer simply about some missing email messages.

Unchecked, some really, really bad things could happen.

Since misery loves company, it seems only fair that your stomach should tighten, your mouth go dry, and the hairs on the back of your neck stand at attention as well.

Here are three possible scenarios. They could be right out of Tom Clancy novel -- except, of course, the failures are based on the real-world problems we discovered in our investigation.

Prepare to be freaked out...

Scenario 1: the attack that backfired
A United States Army Special Forces team is set to attack the secret hideout of a top al-Qa'idah operative. The operation has been planned for weeks. No one outside the Special Forces team, Pentagon brass, and senior White House staff know about the impending attack.

Secrecy is imperative. If even a hint of an attack made its way back to al-Qa'idah, our target would vanish into the wind and years of very dangerous human intelligence work would be for naught.

It's 4am in Washington and the attack is about to take place. The President, Chief of Staff, Deputy Chief of Staff, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and a variety of deputies are waiting in the super-secure Situation Room in the White House. You can feel the tension in the air.

Outside the al-Qa'idah safe house, the tension is even more palpable. Highly trained American warriors are about to do what they do best. With the President's approval relayed to them, the attack is launched.