November 08, 2005
Plug the Leak, And the Leaker
Drudge reported earlier today that:
House Speaker Hastert and Senate Majority Leader Frist will announce a bicameral investigation into the leak of classified information to the WASHINGTON POST regarding the “black sites” where high value al Qaeda terrorists are being held and interrogated.
Within hours, Mississippi Republican Trent Lott said it may have been a Republican Senator or staffer who leaked the information:
Lott told reporters that the existence of the secret prison system was discussed last week during the Republican policy luncheon, held on Capitol Hill the day before the Post story appeared."Information that was said in there, given out in there, did get into the newspaper," Lott said.
Asked whether he believed it was Republicans who had breached security, Lott said: "I don't know where else it came from...it looked to me that at least one of those reports came right out of that room."
Understandably, the media and liberal blogs such as Daily Kos, Eschaton and others are having a field day as Republicans apparently set the stage to pull the trigger on a circular firing squad that may claim one of their own.
My take?
The leaker(s), potentially compromised real agents and intelligence operations, and have committed nothing less than some form of treason or sedition against the United States. The person who leaked the information for this article should spend a significant portion of the rest of his or her life in prison.
I don't give a damn who did it, (Ace's suspect is as good as any); I want them held accountable.
In that same vein, I'd like to see an inquiry into the Washington Post's involvement in this story. Freedom of Speech is not the right to endanger the lives of American intelligence officers, anymore than it is the right to endanger servicemen. There are both ethical and legal lines that Dana Milbank and the Washington Post make have crossed, and if they did endanger our nation they should be held accountable as well.
Now THIS deserves a "Grand Jury!" Drag them to their own "s**t hole!" Good post!
Posted by: chrys at November 9, 2005 03:01 AMYou know, the conservatives and the GOP in general would do very well if we didn't have stupid politicians as representatives. Isn't there some kind of "stupid test' we could administer to potential GOP candidates?
It doesn't matter what party the leaker(s) is/are affiliated with; the GOP must take the moral high ground and demand an investigation followed by the due process of law. If the GOP attempts in any way to suppress any element of this disaster it will play extremely poorly at the next election cycle.
I am upset that this has occurred and in all likelihood placed patriotic Americans unduly in harms way. I have hung it out there in a covert operation whereby had I been discovered or captured, my country would not have acknowledged my mission. I accepted the mission because my country asked me. The thought of some stupid politician and reporter combination compromising the operation never occured to me. To think that is the most likely scenario today really pi#*es me off!
Posted by: Old Soldier at November 9, 2005 07:42 AMThe laughter at Kos, etc. was because of the irony of the Republican Congress engaging in any kind of oversite. They finally decided to try it when they thought they could score political points against a perceived enemy - our own CIA.
Also, it wasn't 5 minutes after Lott disclosed that it was likely a Republican Senator who leaked before the thought of doing any kind of oversite hearings disappeared.
Posted by: Dave Johnson at November 9, 2005 11:11 PMMore on that last point: "The chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence told Senate leaders yesterday that Congress should hold off on a probe of the disclosure of classified information on secret prisons to The Washington Post until the Justice Department completes its own inquiry.
Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) said he will "respectfully" request that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) back off a strongly worded request that a bicameral investigation into the disclosure be convened immediately. Frist spokeswoman Amy Call said the majority leader had not decided how to respond."
Etc...
