In July 2003, the name of a covert CIA agent, Valerie Plame, was leaked to The New York Times in an apparent effort to punish her husband, Joseph Wilson, an outspoken critic of the Iraq war. The leak came from someone inside the White House who supplied Plame’s top-secret identity to columnist Robert Novak who, in turn, leaked her name to the public.Blowing a CIA operative’s cover is not only illegal, it’s potentially life-threatening for all persons involved: the exposed operative, her family, contacts, and fellow covert agents and their families (to say nothing of the security of our nation). All were put unnecessarily at risk when someone in the White House leaked Plame’s true identity.
You can imagine that top officials at the White House were infuriated with the person within their administration who leaked a CIA operative’s identity. President Bush himself felt compelled to say, “If there’s a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is,” adding, ” If the person has violated law, that person will be taken care of.”
Thus far, the only person to take the fall for the Valerie Plame leak is I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, who is currently on trial for perjury, obstruction and lying to the FBI. Earlier this week, in a less than ironic twist of fate, it was revealed that President Bush authorized the leak of sensitive intelligence information regarding Iraq.
While this revelation isn’t exactly a smoking gun in regards to the Plame affair, it is the first real whiff of gunpowder coming from under the Oval Office door.
Rodger Thomas Holst is a senior majoring in literature.