The outing of Valerie Plame in the column of Robert Novak
has now led to the resignation of Jim Pavitt from the CIA. Mr.
Pavitt was Valerie Plame?s superior. His work has been
devastated by this catastrophic security leak, and he has
apparently chosen to resign as a result. The announcement
of his retirement is the tip of an iceberg of national disaster.
Don?t believe for a moment the rantings of lying radio hosts
about this case. Valerie Plame was no small fish. The
revelation of her name is, in fact, the most serious
intelligence disaster in the history of this country. Only a tiny
number of high officials, such as the president, the
secretaries of state and defense, and a few high White House
officials even have access to the names of the CIA?s
NOC ?non-official cover? officers. These are seemingly private
individuals who are actually key CIA personnel, whose
clandestine activities are run via carefully designed covers,
companies that are legitimate from top to bottom and are not
in any way thought to be CIA-associated, and have survived
years of scrutiny from foreign intelligence operations, and are
believed by even the best of them to be entirely non-CIA
connected.
The names on the NOC list are among the greatest secrets
possessed by our country, and the leaking of this particular
name at this particular time could well be the single most
traitorous act in our history, because it has blinded us to the
actions of Iran as they are in the process of acquiring nuclear
weapons and the means to deliver them.
In the case of Valerie Plame, she was connected with a
company called Brewster-Jennings and Associates. They were
primarily active in the US and Saudi Arabia, but also engaged
in activities in China, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Pakistan,
Russia and Syria.
Two decades of intelligence work in these countries has been
compromised or destroyed by this monstrous act. Worse, we
can no longer trust any intelligence being gathered via this
critical resource.
Let me be very specific about the extent of this problem.
Here are just two of the areas of possible compromise:
Spread across the southern areas of the former Soviet Union
are numerous nuclear devices, fissionable material and
delivery systems in various degrees of decay, nominally
guarded by Russia and the countries in which the materials
are now found. In addition, I assume that the United States
has extensive operations in these areas, there to make sure
that nothing more goes missing, and that what has already
gone missing is tracked and located.
That work may now be effectively destroyed.
The United States also, I would think, maintain sensitive
operations in Iran and North Korea that would be designed to
see if they obtain effective delivery systems, or begin
engineering them based on Russian parts and plans. Those
programs may be destroyed or compromised.
The result of all this is that, just as extremely dangerous
countries are in the process of acquiring or building nuclear
weapons and the means to deliver them, the United States
has been blinded to their activities.
It cannot be that this was what has been portrayed: the act
of a vindictive official intent on ruining Ms. Plame?s career
because her husband annoyed the administration. It is more
than that, it must be. The reason is simple. Everybody who
knew her name also knew what she did and how
extraordinarily sensitive her work was.
There are rumors that the grand jury that has been convened
as part of the investigation of this leak will issue indictments
of high officials quite soon.
The President has retained the services of a criminal lawyer,
Jim Sharp, to represent him before the grand jury.
The Washington rumor mill also has it that he?s done this
because he knew the source of the leak and may have
violated the law by not informing the FBI. The rumor mill also
has it that Karl Rove and Dick Cheney may be indicted in the
matter.
Of course, this is a partisan time, so there?s no way of telling
how true such rumors are. In any case, it doesn?t matter.
The grand jury apparently has the name of the individual or
individuals responsible. It is to be hoped that, if found guilty,
no matter how high they may be, the people responsible be
made to suffer the maximum penalty for the horrific crime
they have committed.
In the meantime, we can only wait and pray that a nuclear
weapon does not go off somewhere in the world?or even
more than one. The worst case nuclear scenario is that a
bomb devastates a great western city, and the west is then
warned that many other cities are mined with similar
weapons, and this is done by a shadowy ?terrorist group.?
Because of the intelligence catastrophe that we have
sustained, we will not be able to track the actual source of
that terrorist group. We will, in fact, be forced to surrender
to whatever demands these unknown parties make.
I blame not only the traitor who leaked this information, but
Mr. Novak for publishing it. While there are obviously First
Amendment issues involved, the crime is a violation of the
Intelligence Identities Protection Act as well as an act of high
treason. All parties concerned should be prosecuted, including
Novak. The constitutional issues should be a matter for
adjudication, given the seriousness of the crime.
I have been exploring in my own mind what the motive behind
this leak must have been. If it was mere vindictiveness, then
the person who did it is a dangerous fool, and he should be
punished and whoever was responsible for putting him in a
position where he could do this damage should fired and
disgraced.
In my worst nightmares, I fear that this was done by
somebody who shares the lunatic belief that inducing the
battle of Armageddon will bring about the rapture, and that it
was done in hopes of causing a nuclear holocaust. Or that it
was done by a fundamentalist Moslem terrorist who is
actually also a high US official.
Maybe the true motive will never be known. But this is clear:
it is a great national disaster, and a potential tragedy of
world-historic proportions that, if it is set in motion, we will
now be powerless even to see until too late, let alone stop.
