A BuzzFlash Reader Contribution

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The Real Problems with Plamegate

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION
by James M. MacDougall

There has been much speculation in recent days about the involvement of Karl Rove and others in the disclosure of the identity of a covert CIA operative.  The chatter back and forth from opposing political perspectives raises some very debatable points as well as a lot of useless noise.  Unfortunately most of this obscures the real issue at the heart of the matter, the national security of the United States and the safety of the American public. 

Whether or not the legal definition of section 421, title 50, of the United States Code [i] covers Mr. Rove's actions will be debated in the months or years to come.  However, this discussion obscures the debate we should be having in this country, how have these actions undermined our national security and our ability to protect our citizens.  Where covert cover is never perfect, having it spread all over the front page surely cannot help our cause. 

Whether these actions are legally treasonous or not is a question for the U.S. judiciary system.  The fact that these actions severely damage our ability to protect the citizens of this nation is the central fact, and one that deserves every American's immediate attention. 

Let's take a look at the legacy handed down by the actions of Mr. Rove and others in this administration.

1)      Disclosure of the identity of a covert agent of the CIA.

Whatever the background of this act is, it is irrelevant to the central fact that these actions brought about the public knowledge that Valerie Plame [or Mrs. Wilson if you like] was an undercover operations officer for the CIA, more specifically a NOC, that's a non-official cover officer.  In layman's terms that means she agreed to operate overseas without the security of a diplomatic passport.[ii]  This meant if she was caught she could be executed.  It also made her association with the CIA much harder to figure out.

This "outing" started a chain reaction that thundered through the community of foreign intelligence agencies and actors, which severely compromised the agency's ability to protect this nation.  Within hours of this information becoming public, agencies and actors around the world would reconstruct her movements and history, thus endangering other agency secrets.  This coupled with the disclosure of Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan[iii], an al-Qaeda informant that Pakistani intelligence was using to provide information on his contacts in the organization, provide a disturbing habit of "outing" persons for suspect reasons. 

Because of this trend foreign agents are less likely to cooperate with U.S. agencies for fear of being exposed for little reason.  The fact that this action possibly destroyed years of CIA operations in the field of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, especially into the hands of rogue states and non-state actors,[iv] should in itself be enough to condemn these actions, but unfortunately the damage did not stop there.

2)      This leak caused the exposure of a CIA front company.

In a subsequent interview on CNN, journalist Robert Novak also exposed an agency operational company, Brewster-Jennings & Associates, in an effort to paint Plame as a partisan.[v]  This expanded the damage exponentially.  Now, not only could external actors connect any doings of Mrs. Wilson to the CIA, they could also connect Brewster-Jennings & Associates and anyone who had connections to them, as possible agency assets. 

The extent of this damage may never be publicly known as it usurps some of the most sensitive areas of the agency's investigations in the illegal transfer of WDM technology and information.  It has been said that Brewster-Jennings & Associates was not much of a cover, but then it was not supposed to be.  It was just a holding company for overseas officers while they were in the United States. 

Vince Cannistraro, the CIA's former counterterrorism chief, said that when operating undercover outside the United States, Plame would have had a real job with a more legitimate company. The Boston company "is not an indicator of what she did overseas,"[vi].  There is a reason that sources and methods are protected so vigorously by our security services, once exposed those sources and methods are no longer of much use.  The association of Valerie Plame and Brewster-Jennings & Associates with the CIA makes the connection of dots between these and other valuable agency assets that much easier and laid bare both sources and methods.

3)    These actions severely damaged this country's ability to stop a WMD terrorist attack in this country.

It takes years to set up covert avenues of information into such sensitive areas.  The work of thousands goes into the establishment of intelligence covers and the gradual infiltration of agencies associated with the proliferation of WMD secrets and abilities into the hands of those that would do this nation and the world harm.  A portion of this work was swept away in days by the information provided by Mr. Rove and others in this administration for what as best could be summarized as a minor political objective, at worst, just retribution and intimidation of those who dared speak in opposition to the administration's ambitions. 

In these days of national threat, I find these actions even more inexcusable. Porter Goss stated in his speech on Global Intelligence Challenges before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in February of 2005 that "It may be only a matter of time before al-Qa'ida or another group attempts to use chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons (CBRN)."[vii]

Seeing as this is such a high priority issue in the national defense circles, it begs the question why any information that could be damaging to this effort was made public at all.

The realizations that it is "only a matter of time" before groups use WMD on this nation or our allies, spotlights even more the dastardly nature of the actions of participants in this administration.  The fact that any information that would hinder the deterrence of these groups from obtaining the material and knowledge needed to complete their goal of a WMD attack in this country would be released, for any reason whatsoever, seems completely outrageous and indefensible.  The fact that it happened and Karl Rove is involved is irrefutable; all that remains to be determined is the motive and who are the other participants. 

A priority of this administration is the global war on terror[viii]; this should include the defense of this nation from attack, especially from WMD.  That being said, how can we trust an administration that would defend personnel and actions that have undermined that very function?  Whether this action was perpetrated through spite or stupidity, how can we leave those that made theses decisions in charge of our national security?  This is only one more incident to highlight in the litany of irresponsible actions of this administration. It would seem that none in Washington have any idea whatsoever on how to win this war we find ourselves in.

This leaves the only question to be asked, "Are we to wait for the smoking gun of their incompetence to be a mushroom cloud over a U.S. city, or are we going to protect our nation from those who abdicate their responsibility to do so?"

* * *

Notes:

[i] US Code: Title 50, Subchapter iv—protection of certain national security information http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode
50/usc_sup_01_50_10_15_20_IV.html

[ii] The Big Lie About Valerie Plame, Larry Johnson, Jul 13, 2005 http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/7/13/04720/9340

[iii] Captured Qaeda Figure Led Way To Information Behind Warning, NY Times, August 2, 2004,

[iv] Ambassador Joseph Wilson IV, a Buzzflash interview, April 30, 2004
http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/04/04/int04023.html

[v] Leak of Agent's Name Causes Exposure of CIA Front Firm, Washington Post, October 4, 2003 http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename
=article&contentId=A40012-2003Oct3&notFound=true

[vi] Apparent CIA front didn't offer much cover, Boston Globe, October 10, 2003
http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2003/10/
10/apparent_cia_front_didnt_offer_much_cover/

[vii] Testimony of Director of Central Intelligence, Porter J. Goss, Before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, 16 February 2005 (as prepared for delivery) http://www.cia.gov/cia/public_affairs/speeches/2004/
Goss_testimony_02162005.html

[viii] "First and foremost, the Global War on Terror will remain a priority of the administration." Quote from Secretary of State Colin Powell briefing reporters November 8, 2004 en route to Mexico City, Mexico, to attend the 21st meeting of the U.S.-Mexico Binational Commission
http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=
2004&m=November&x=20041109161559aawajuk0.3802606&
t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html

James M. MacDougall

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION