When Bob Woodward was preparing to write his 2002 book, "Bush At War", he was given almost carte blanche access to White House and intelligence community personnel and information.
In February of this year, Murray Waas wrote on his blog:
What was not known by Scheuer at the time was that officials on the "seventh floor" of the CIA were literally ordered by then-CIA director George Tenet to co-operate with Woodward's project because President Bush personally asked that it be done. More than one CIA official co-operated with Woodward against their best judgment, and only because they thought it was something the President had wanted done or ordered.
Waas's post was about the February, 2006 letter (.pdf file) that Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-W Va), Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, had written to John Negroponte, Director of National Intelligence, in which he slammed the administration for its pattern of releasing classified information for political purposes. It reads, in part:
I am surprised and puzzled, however, that Director Goss chose to lay the blame for this damage on what he describes as misguided whistleblowers. Clearly "leaks" and damaging revelations of intelligence sources and methods are generated primarily by Executive Branch officials pushing a particular policy, and not by the rank-and-file employees of the intelligence agencies.
For conformation[sic] we need look no further than press reports from the past few days. On February 9th the National Journal reported that I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby told a grand jury that he was "authorized" by Vice President Cheney and other White House superiors to disclose classified information from a National Intelligence Estimate to the press to defend the Administration's use of pre-war intelligence in making the case to go-to war
in Iraq.
This blatant abuse of intelligence information for political purposes is inexcusable, but all too common. Throughout the period leading up to the Iraq war the Administration selectively declassified or leaked information related to Iraq's acquisition of aluminum tubes, the alleged purchase uranium, the non-existent operational connection between Iraq and al Qaeda, and numerous other issues.
The leaks associated with the Iraq war were a continuation of a pattern of using classified material for political gain that began after the September 11 attacks. In his 2002 book, Bush at War, Bob Woodward described almost unfettered access to classified material of the most sensitive nature. According to his account he was providinformationion related to sources and methods, extremely sensitive covert actions, and foreign intelligence liaison relationships.
[...]
I wrote both former Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) George Tenet and Acting DCI John McLaughlin seeking to determine what steps were being taken to address the appalling disclosures contained in Bush at War. The only response I received was to indicate that the leaks had been authorized by the Administration.
Following the leaks to the press about the NSA domestic spying program and the CIA's secret prisons, the Justice Department, CIA and FBI began extremely aggressive investigations of reporters and their possible sources. Yet, as Rockefeller points out in his letter, the main concern in all of this ought not be the fact that reporters publish what's given to them. The focus should lie with whoever leaked and/or whoever authorized the leak in the first place, especially in cases where the only discernible reason for such a leak is to provide covert support for the administration's policies and political agendas.
An administration that authorizes secret intelligence leaks during a time of war, as this one has done repeatedly during its tenure, presents a danger to national security far beyond that posed by whistleblowers who rightly expose information that violates the basic civil and human rights of a population. And, a congress that is complicit in such behaviour by allowing a coverup ought not have the right to govern.
No comments:
Post a Comment