Scooter

First, no where will you find me defending Armitage. For me this is not political. For me this is about two things: 1) The National Security of the United States and 2) the lack of ethical conduct on the part of certain persons in gov't. I would be exactly as pissed if it were VP Obama (Or whoever) leaking this information for the exact same reasons. So let's get the left/right crap out of the way.

The actions of these individuals puts all of us at more risk. One of the things Plame was working on was the Iranian nuclear weapons program. She was very smart, she had years of experience, and she was a specialist in this area.

The exposure of her not only blew her cover, it blew the cover of all related activities she was ever engaged in. It blew the cover of every fake CIA front company she worked for. That blew the cover of multiple other persons and local nationals in Iran who had contact with her or with the fake (or affiliated fake) companies. It's like a rock in a pond. The ripples go quite a bit wider and upset operations elsewhere.

In turn, this means that these people, if not already dead, are likely under suspicion and either cannot help the US, or will not help the US. Why? Because we obviously can't protect their identities from our politicians and their hatchetmen in the press. Would you risk your life knowing you had to depend on these individuals to keep quiet? That's the point. Further, without HUMINT (HUMan INTelligence) assets we have to rely on ELINT (ELectronic INTelligence) which cannot tell us about the actual individuals doing the research and exploitable situations involving these people or the places they work.

That's the real world damage that was done, and it's not insignificant. Finding out what the Iranians and others are doing, who the players are, what their intentions are and how soon they can make a mushroom cloud is of paramount importance. Both in the near term (when can they vaporize 10000 American troops in Baghdad) and long term (when can they threaten all the OPEC countries to quintuple the price of oil thus bringing the US to it's knees in the space of a week).

"But Clinton did this or that, or got a hummer from some intern!" doesn't mean squat. Clinton isn't President. His team isn't running the Whitehouse. The Bush team is, and they are responsible for keeping their mouths shut. That they didn't keep their mouths shut is bad enough. That they did it for simple political payback is to add insult to injury. Apparently, trash talking someone is MORE important to them then THE NATIONAL SECURITY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Is it starting to sink in yet? They put me at greater risk. They put you at greater risk. They put your nephew and nieces at greater risk. They endangered us all by making it harder to find out what the Iranians are up to, and for the most basic and petty of reasons!

If you love your country, you should be hopping mad about this. Instead, some laugh it off as if it has no consequence. It does. It has very real consequences. Not only with Iran, but with our entire ability to conduct covert operations and find out what unfriendly countries are up to. We need people willing to go in harms way as NOCs. To literally risk their lives undercover in hostile countries. And we are NOT going to get people to do that if they cannot trust us not to stab them in the back for some political bullshit reason. Without those agents, we have no ability to know what the Iranians or North Koreans are really up to until the first bright flash.

That's the cost of not taking this seriously. That's the point where maybe it will get through some people's loyalty to one party that there are simply MORE IMPORTANT issues at stake here. Let's just hope that bright flash is not in Baghdad.

Regards,
-Bouncer-