So George W. Bush says the leaking of portions of the National Intelligence Estimate was “political.” Mr. Bush said: “Here we are, coming down the homestretch of an election campaign and it’s on the front page of your newspapers. Isn’t that interesting?”
The implication of this statement is that leaking classified information for political reasons is somehow wrong…
It’s my assumption that whoever chose to leak the NIE did so to show the American people that statements being made by the Bush administration in regard to the security of our nation are false. The war in Iraq does not make us safer here in the USA. According to the intelligence community (as stated in the NIE) it has actually made us less safe.
The motivation for leaking this information seems to come from some unknown individual’s desire to shed light on yet another lie being told by the White House. This is in stark contrast with the leaking (by the White House) of the identity of an undercover CIA operative in order to punish someone who was/is critical of the war in Iraq. When the Vice President decided to leak the name of a covert CIA employee in an effort to discredit a respected statesman, he did so not because he thought it was the right thing to do for America. He did it because he and his ilk are afraid that if enough people speak the truth about this war people will begin to see the current administration for what it is: a bunch of treasonous war criminals. That’s right, treasonous war criminals.
One of the fundamental rules of politics is that if you can’t argue an issue based on the facts at hand, the next best thing is to personally attack your opponent. Thus the attacks on Mr. Wilson’s wife. And here’s the best part about the White House’s defense of the leaking of this classified information: they maintain that since the President and Vice President have the authority to classify and de-classify information at will no crime was committed. I disagree. By this argument the President could upload the entire contents of the Pentagon’s computer system to Beijing, then lie about having done so and then when finally caught say “well yeah, I did that, then lied about it, but it doesn’t matter because I can de-classify information whenever I want.”
So, Mr. Bush, for once we agree: the leaking of classified information for political purposes is wrong. I urge you to turn yourself in at the nearest federal detention center and fully disclose any information you may have about your crimes in this area (and in others) and the crimes of other’s in your administration. Maybe the Attorney General will go easy on you if you rat out some of your pals. I sure as hell wouldn’t.