CIA Leaker Fired
The CIA is finally serious about going after those who leak classified information to the media. Leave it to the New York Times to spin the CIA leaks into a good thing. In this article, the Times twice mention that the story won the Pulitzer Prize. I have a question. She won a prize for hurting the United States, does that also come with jail time for leaking classified material? Probably not. The Times goes on to tell the story, and then instead praising Porter Goss for taking action, they quote some disgruntled employees of the agency who tell of the detrimental affects of the firing. Only in the hallowed hall of the Grey Lady could they be so dense.
The spy agency disclosed on Friday that they had dismissed one of their people, Mary O. McCarthy for leaking the information of the foreign detention centers to Dana Priest at the Washington Post. The leak prompted outrage from countries across the globe and forced the United States to close them. One obvious result of the closing to the detention centers is the loss of intelligence that could have been gleemed from the terrorists held in captivity. The effect of these closings has made the country less safe. The amount of damage done by the McCarty’s leak and by Dana Priest’s treachery may not be known for years. But damage was done, you can be sure.
The Central Intelligence Agency has dismissed a senior career officer for disclosing classified information to reporters, including material for Pulitzer Prize-winning articles in The Washington Post about the agency’s secret overseas prisons for terror suspects, intelligence officials said Friday.
Apparently McCarthy was an analyst and a holdover from the Clinton Administration. According to Fox News, she has worked in the CIA since 1984 having worked in the White House under Bill Clinton and was soon replaced when George Bush became President. What is know is that the agency analyst was a partisan having given money to John Kerry. This incident makes you wonder whether her leaks were specifically intended to harm the Republican President or if she was against the war in Iraq itself.
Public records show that Ms. McCarthy contributed $2,000 in 2004 to the presidential campaign of John Kerry, the Democratic nominee. (NYT)
The New York Times can not tell this story without bringing up how the President and Dick Cheney leaked the NIE (National Intelligence Estimate) to the press in 2003. They can not even finish with the fact that the George Bush has the authority to declassify such material. They don’t discuss the fact that the material was released to counter false reporting by the MSM, particularly the New York Times which has been against this President from the time he was elected and against this war from its inception. (Note to the Times: Don’t look now, but your BIAS is showing.)
Several former intelligence officials — who were granted anonymity after requesting it for what they said were obvious reasons under the circumstances — were divided over the likely effect of the dismissal on morale. One veteran said the firing would not be well-received coming so soon after the disclosure of grand jury testimony by Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff that President Bush in 2003 approved the leak of portions of a secret national intelligence estimate on Iraqi weapons.
“It’s a terrible situation when the president approves the leak of a highly classified N.I.E., and people at the agency see management as so disastrous that they feel compelled to talk to the press,” said one former C.I.A. officer with extensive overseas experience.
Let me get this straight. It is okay for the MSM to release classified material for the good of the country when such leaking is illegal, but it is not okay for the President to release classified material who does have the authority.
One other thing, CIA analysts and field officers do not make policy, the President does. Pulling an end around and going straight to the press with their complaints is a firing offense. If they do not like George Bush’s policy’s, then do as any other employee in America does when they do not like what their boss is doing: shut up or quit. It is that simple.
It is even worse over at the Washington Post.
Post Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr. said on the newspaper’s Web site: “We don’t know the details of why (the CIA employee) was fired, so I can’t comment on that. But as a general principle, obviously I am opposed to criminalizing the dissemination of government information to the press.”
Generally opposed to criminalizing the dissemination of government information to the press? You got to be kidding me? In Downie’s case, all information is legit, even releasing the information harms this country, leads to the death of our American citizens, leads to the deaths of our troops, or leads to the embarrassment of the President (sorry, I forgot. Embarrassing the President if he is a Republican is okay). Releasing information that harms our troops or harms the standing of this country is NOT patriotic no matter how you spin it. Dana Priest should be given jail time for releasing classified material. It would also be nice if her jail mate were none other than Mary O. McCarthy. Poetic Justice.
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