From The Corner at NR:
...just a couple of (obvious) comments..libby and/or rove may indeed be'guilty' of cia-related 'leaks' - but the one thing we can say with completeconfidence is that a special prosecutor empowered to investigate such a leakhas not indicted ANYONE for 'leaking'...perjury; yes - release of classifiedinformation, no...so there is no 'legitimate' - pun intended - comparison...
Secondly, as an ex-washpost reporter, I feel obligated to point out that thepost made an institutional judgment - not a dana priest judgment - aboutwhat it would publish about the 'european renditions/prisons'....dana had done a story on the planes allegedly carrying suspects/terrorists - replete with airplane ID numbers - and the post had been covering this aspect of the'beat' for quite some time......if this mccarthy person was, indeed, dana's source and she got caught, we need to return to the core issue of not merely whether this is a 'good' or a'bad' leak - truly one of the most stupidly framed dichotomies one can imagine - but whether the release of this information could put innocent lives at risk...
...this question is as fair to ask of the plame circumstances as it is for the 'prisons' - it can now, with benefit of hindsight, be said that we know of no individual harm that came of the plame 'leak'...she and her family seem to be doing quite well, god bless 'em...but as for those individuals who may or may not have been actively involved in aiding the US intransferring individuals from one country to another...we have no clue...however, it is now very easy to imagine scenarios under which the release of this information has made it far more dangerous for individuals, organizations and nation-states to choose to cooperate with the United States in the exchange of either terrorists or terrorist information...Their understandable reluctance to cooperate with the US - why should we if you can't guarantee our secrecy or discretion in helping you? - means that American individuals and organizations will likely be exposed to greater risks of harm...
...bottom line: the mccarthy 'leak' is different in degree and in kind fromthe plame 'leak'...we can talk about the ny times/nsa leak at another time:-)
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