July 19, 2005

Outing CIA Agents For Dummies: Rove v. Plame

By Noel Sheppard
It's safe to assume that the number one question asked at cocktail parties and on golf courses this weekend was who do you think 'outed' CIA agent Valerie Plame.  Likely, the answer depended on the recipient's news source of choice. For example, some media outlets affirm that it was Karl Rove, President Bush's Deputy Chief of Staff.  In their view, Rove should either be fired, or resign. Conversely, other news divisions maintain that Rove didn't actually violate any national security statutes given that he was first told of Plame's CIA involvement by a reporter, and that Plame hadn't been working overseas recently enough as a covert agent for this 'outing' to actually be considered a crime. So, who's right?  Which media outlet's take should we believe?  Maybe more important, why should we have to make that decision, and how can we possibly be qualified to do so? Isn't that what the news industry is supposed to do for us — present unadulterated...(Read Full Article)