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Former Agents Criticize Bush Over CIA Leak
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush’s failure to take
action against a top aide involved in the outing of a
covert CIA operative sends the wrong message''
overseas, former U.S. intelligence officials said on
Friday.
At a hearing sponsored by Democrats, the retired agents
said U.S. intelligence gathering had been damaged by
the leak of Valerie Plame's name two years ago after
her husband, former diplomat Joseph Wilson, criticized
the White House's justification for going to war in
Iraq.
Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper told a federal
grand jury that presidential adviser Karl Rove told him
that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA, but did not
disclose her name.
Cooper has also said he discussed the Wilsons with
Lewis
Scooter’’ Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s
chief of staff.
What has suffered irreversible damage is the
credibility of our case officers when they try to
convince an overseas contact that their safety is of
primary importance to us,'' Jim Marcinkowski, a former
CIA case officer, said.
He also criticized Republican efforts to minimize the
damage caused by the leak.
Each time the political machine made up of prime-time
patriots and partisan ninnies display their ignorance
by deriding Valerie Plame as a mere paper pusher or
belittling the varying degrees of cover used to protect
our officers or continuing to play partisan politics
with our national security, it’s a disservice to this
country,’’ he added.
Bush vowed this week to fire anyone found to have acted
illegally in the controversy, backing away from a
broader pledge to dismiss anyone found to have leaked
information in the case.
CRIMINAL STANDARD
Marcinkowski said the criminal standard was too high
and that Bush should take action against those
involved.
Inaction itself sends the message -- the wrong
message,'' he said.
As controversy over the matter heated up in recent
weeks, the White House has refused to answer questions
about Rove, who is credited with being the architect of
the president's election victories.
So far, the only person to suffer legal sanction in the
case is New York Times reporter Judith Miller, who has
been jailed for refusing to testify about her sources.
Congressional Republicans have rushed to defend Rove
and criticize Wilson, who took a CIA-funded trip in
2002 to investigate a charge that Iraq tried to buy
nuclear materials in Africa, and later accused the Bush
administration of exaggerating the Iraqi weapons
threat. They said Rove is a
whistleblower’’ because
Wilson told lies about the trip and he was trying to
set the Time reporter straight.
Larry Johnson, a former CIA analyst who said he was a
registered Republican, spoke harshly of the criticisms
of Wilson and efforts to minimize his wife’s job at the
CIA.
This is wrong. This should stop. And it could stop in
a heartbeat if the president would simply put a stop to
it -- he hasn't,'' Johnson said.
That speaks
volumes.’’
White House officials have sought to put the
controversy behind them pending the outcome of a
federal investigation.
But the matter continues to dog the administration,
with key Bush aide Karen Hughes facing questions from
reporters on Friday after testifying on Capitol Hill.
``There’s an ongoing investigation,’’ she said.