Loose Lips Sink Spies by Porter Goss, in the NYTimes today.

[DemoVet]

Judge Laurence Silberman, a chairman of President Bush's commission on weapons of mass destruction, said he was "stunned" by the damage done to our critical intelligence assets by leaked information. The commission reported last March that in monetary terms, unauthorized disclosures have cost America hundreds of millions of dollars; in security terms, of course, the cost has been much higher. Part of the problem is that the term "whistleblower" has been misappropriated. The sharp distinction between a whistleblower and someone who breaks the law by willfully compromising classified information has been muddied.

As a member of Congress in 1998, I sponsored the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act to ensure that current or former employees could petition Congress, after raising concerns within their respective agency, consistent with the need to protect classified information.

(snip)

On the other hand, those who choose to bypass the law and go straight to the press are not noble, honorable or patriotic. Nor are they whistleblowers. Instead they are committing a criminal act that potentially places American lives at risk. It is unconscionable to compromise national security information and then seek protection as a whistleblower to forestall punishment.

And not one mention of Valerie Plame or Scooter. Porter is obviously irony-deficient.

Full article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/10/opinion/10goss.html?th&emc=th

[wtmusic]

1. He could stand some anti-hypocrisy supplementation, too nt

[madinmaryland]

2. I am assuming he is referring to the White House

and those who outed a CIA undercover officer to the press. :sarcasm:

What else could he be referring to?

:shrug:

[Inland]

3. The law is a club to beat those who oppose them, nothing more.

I wouldn't mind a person claiming a need to punish those who leaked the story, if I didn't know that this administration broke the law with the warrentless wiretapping, outed Plame, tortured detainees, jailed Padilla without trial, and otherwise showed that the law is what they say it is for use as they say it should be used.

It's a lot of legal words, but at the bottom it's just the same as Karl Rove saying he is going to fuck somebody like they've never been fucked before. It's got nothing to do with law beyond the use of the system they abhor and avoid to get that task done this time.

[emulatorloo]

4. Leaking to expose a crime = bad Leaking to commit a crime = good

Porter is so quick to demand punishment of whoever might have leaked the fact that Bush is breaking the law.

As to Rove and Libby, well they were just protecting Bush.

[katty]

5. and WH senior admin leaking Valerie Plame is no BFD?!

[WhiteTara]

6. Libby's loose lips sank the spy

these creatures are so interesting. It is amazing that they can just turn their crime around and accuse others of their actions! It leaves us all dumbfounded, silent and ineffectual.