Leak a cause for concern

A big story emerged in Washington, D.C., last week. It concerns Valerie Plame, a clandestine CIA operative. Plame served under "non-official cover," which means that when working abroad, she doesn't enjoy any sort of diplomatic immunity. Yet, a senior Bush administration official decided to give Plame's name to the media.\nShocking.\nIn case you haven't heard this story, gather around, because for lack of a better word, it's unbelievable. It has quite a few twists and turns, but I'll try to give the bare necessities.\nRemember the whole controversy about Bush claiming Iraq was trying to buy uranium from Niger? Well, the guy who traveled to Niger and investigated and discounted this story is former Ambassador Joe Wilson.\nWilson published an opinion column this summer stating that the White House had distorted the Niger uranium claims. A few days later, according to Sunday's Washington Post, columnist Robert Novak asked a senior White House official (Novak has not disclosed any names) why Wilson got the assignment to investigate the Niger claims.\nThe official's response, according to Novak, was, "Well, his wife works in the counterproliferation section at the CIA, and that she suggested it, his mission." Her name followed.\nAnd, ladies and gentlemen, a controversy is born.\nRegardless of the circumstances, it is inexcusable that someone in our government would disclose the name of an undercover CIA agent. Such disclosures can put lives at risk. But, in this case, we can't disregard the circumstances.\nHere they are: Ever since Wilson's claims about uranium in Niger, the White House has been trying to discredit him. This can be evidenced by the official's claim that Wilson got the job because of his wife. In fact, Wilson is an accomplished diplomat who, according to the same Post article, was the last American diplomat to deal directly with Saddam Hussein. What's more, it was the CIA that appointed him to investigate the Niger claims in 2002.\nSince then, Wilson has come out against the war in Iraq. Many have tried to discredit his Niger investigation because of his political views. Such arguments are fair. But, to disclose the name of Wilson's undercover wife and to put her safety at risk is not fair.\nIt is reprehensible.\nNow, I know many people will claim that such a leak is purely accidental. This logic doesn't fly with Joe Wilson. On "Meet the Press" this Sunday, he said, "I felt that … it was rational that if you were in administration and did not want people talking about the intelligence or talking about what underpinned the decision to go to war, you would discourage them by destroying the credibility of the messenger who brought you the message." He continued, "This administration apparently decided the way to do that was to leak the name of my wife."\nFor its part, the Department of Justice has ordered a probe of the leak, and Bush (who I am confident was not personally involved in this leak) has demanded that all White House officials hand over any pertinent information. Hopefully, this investigation will get to the truth of this situation.\nDespite the results of this investigation, the leak of Valerie Plume's name is intolerable. The attempts of the White House to discredit Joe Wilson's report -- which the CIA commissioned -- are also unacceptable. But trying to discredit Joe Wilson by leaking the name of his undercover wife puts the credibility of the Bush administration, and of our intelligence community in general, at risk.