Victory or defeat?

Despite numerous news reports that Pakistan had arrested an American al Qaeda operative in the port city of Karachi, the U.S. government is unaware that anyone affiliated with the terrorist network, American or otherwise, has been captured in Pakistan recently, U.S. officials said Monday.

"None of this appears to be fact at this point," said a U.S. official who asked not to be further identified because the official wasn't authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

U.S. and international news reports that first appeared Sunday quoted unnamed Pakistani intelligence officials as saying that Pakistani agents in Karachi had arrested Adam Gadahn, a Californian who'd converted to Islam and oversees al Qaeda's propaganda operations.

Gadahn, 31, is the most wanted American member of al Qaeda and the first U.S. citizen since the 1940s to be charged with treason.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/03/09/1519760/al-qaeda-arrest-apparently-not.html

On Sunday, this was reported as a "great victory" for the Obama administration.

If not true, is it a defeat?