Valerie Plame Revisited
I tend to disagree with these CIA blokes.
Now, on the one hand, I can understand the need to keep former undercover operatives' personal information classified; however, according to the reports I've heard on the radio, Valerie Plame hadn't been undercover for eight years. And, if she was so intent on maintaining her anonymity, why did she arrange for her high profile husband, an ambassador, to go on a high profile mission to Niger to confirm or disprove the charges made by MI6? If her identity was so secret, why did her husband then write a high profile column for a national newspaper that criticized the Bush Administration regarding the invasion of Iraq?
As an American ambassador, didn't Joseph Wilson have a duty to support the Bush Administration, or resign from his post?
As a supposed CIA operative, wasn't Joseph Wilson responsible for keeping classified intelligence secret? (That's what "classified" means, right?)
If Joseph Wilson's wife's identity was so sensitive, didn't he have a responsibility to her to avoid making too much ruckus, which could have (and did) end in her supposedly secret identity being compromised?
If Valerie Plame's identity was so sensitive, shouldn't she have sent someone other than her high profile diplomat husband on a sensitive intelligence-gathering mission to Niger to confirm or disprove the claims of the British?
I've said it before, and I may yet have to say it again: in my humble opinion, the people responsible from the beginning for compromising Valerie Plame's anonymous identity are Valerie Plame and her husband, former U.S. ambassador Joseph Wilson.
WASHINGTON — Eleven former intelligence officers are speaking up on behalf of CIA officer Valerie Plame, saying leaking her identity may have damaged national security and threatens the ability of U.S. intelligence gathering.
In a statement to congressional leaders, the former officers said the Republican National Committee (search) has circulated talking points focusing on the idea that Plame was not working undercover and deserved no protection.
There are thousands of U.S. intelligence officers who work at a desk in the Washington, D.C., area every day who are undercover as Plame was when her identity was leaked, the 11 former officers said in a three-page statement.
Now, on the one hand, I can understand the need to keep former undercover operatives' personal information classified; however, according to the reports I've heard on the radio, Valerie Plame hadn't been undercover for eight years. And, if she was so intent on maintaining her anonymity, why did she arrange for her high profile husband, an ambassador, to go on a high profile mission to Niger to confirm or disprove the charges made by MI6? If her identity was so secret, why did her husband then write a high profile column for a national newspaper that criticized the Bush Administration regarding the invasion of Iraq?
As an American ambassador, didn't Joseph Wilson have a duty to support the Bush Administration, or resign from his post?
As a supposed CIA operative, wasn't Joseph Wilson responsible for keeping classified intelligence secret? (That's what "classified" means, right?)
If Joseph Wilson's wife's identity was so sensitive, didn't he have a responsibility to her to avoid making too much ruckus, which could have (and did) end in her supposedly secret identity being compromised?
If Valerie Plame's identity was so sensitive, shouldn't she have sent someone other than her high profile diplomat husband on a sensitive intelligence-gathering mission to Niger to confirm or disprove the claims of the British?
I've said it before, and I may yet have to say it again: in my humble opinion, the people responsible from the beginning for compromising Valerie Plame's anonymous identity are Valerie Plame and her husband, former U.S. ambassador Joseph Wilson.
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