Taylor Marsh – TaylorMarsh.com – News, Opinion and Weblog on Progressive Politics

Classified Information as Political Tool

Leaker in Chief Condemns Leaks transcript See Scotty squirm at TPM Muckraker!

Legal experts say that President Bush had the unquestionable
authority to approve the disclosure of secret CIA information to reporters,
but they add that the leak was highly unusual and amounted to using sensitive
intelligence data for political gain.

“It is a question of whether the classified National
Intelligence Estimate was used for domestic political purposes,” said
Jeffrey H. Smith, a Washington lawyer who formerly served as general counsel
for the CIA.

In court papers filed Wednesday, Special Counsel Patrick
J. Fitzgerald said I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Vice President Cheney's
former chief of staff, has testified that Cheney told him that Bush had authorized
the leak of secret information from the National Intelligence Estimate on
Iraq in the summer of 2003. Fitzgerald's court filing portrays the leak as
part of an effort to discredit former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, who
contended in a newspaper column that intelligence about Iraq's nuclear weapons
program was distorted in the run-up to the U.S. invasion.

Experts:
Tactic Would Be Legal but Unusual

Yesterday I said that Bush
leaked classified information for political gain, today others weighed in and agree. Just wait until our soldiers in Iraq read about it.

But national security has always been a political poker chip for Bush,
because Karl Rove is willing to use anything to push, coerce and scare the American
people into following his boy. If using national security will get the job done,
so be it.

Use it.

Exploit it.

Manipulate it.

The media isn't even asking the big question. Why would President
Bush leak classified information? They don't need to ask the question because
it's laid out for all to see. Joseph Wilson wrote an op-ed that blew a main
claim for war out of the water. It was all stops out at the White House, starting
with the Leaker in Chief.

A senior administration official, speaking
on background because White House policy prohibits comment on an active investigation,
said Bush sees a distinction between leaks and what he is alleged to have
done. The official said Bush authorized the release of the classified information
to assure the public of his rationale for war as it was coming under increasing
scrutiny.

Testimony
Adds New Element to Probe of CIA Leak
(h/t Josh
Marshall)

President Bush's intent was to prove Joseph Wilson wrong and he
didn't care how the results were manifested. In the end, the permission from
the president meant the gloves were coming off. This is war, both in Iraq and
politically at home. Do whatever you have to, say what you must, use what you
will, just get the job done. No one can doubt this war, why we went into Iraq,
why we're waging this battle.

The take no prisoners of political pay back for President Bush
has left bodies strewn across the landscape of his presidency. There is Shinseki,
Colin Powell, Paul O'Neil, General Zinni (Sorry about that name; I've had Zinni on the brain with the coming of his new book) Jay Garner and many, many others. It should be
a board game. Name that political opponent! Target him! See him go down. Joseph
Wilson became one and so did his wife because she was in reach. However, she
was also a career CIA agent. But for Bush it didn't matter, the lady was going
down. He might not have leaked her name, but our Leaker in Chief set in motion the events that made it happen. Bush didn't care about casualties or collateral damage, just get the job done.

It's not even a matter of legality of declassifying the documents
to most people. Americans have heard Bush say over and over again that there
are too many leaks, he wants to catch the leaker; the leaker will be fired.
Of course, Bush backed off one charge, moving it to if someone has committed
a crime they should be punished, fired. But since the boss can do whatever
he wants, it isn't a crime, so he's safe to rant about leakers.

However, the people get it and they don't like it. It's instinctual
now. Iraq is beyond a quagmire. It's a civil war. They hear the latest news
about the Leaker and Chief and their reaction is instinctual. What Bush did
was wrong.

National security is not a political tool, or at least it shouldn't
be. Leaking classified information, selectively, for your own political gain
is certainly reprehensible. It is not befitting a president. Not to mention
that it actually burned a CIA operative. People can quibble about her Noc status
— though I believe she was undercover — but what is indisputable is that the
burning of any CIA operative, especially on political motives, is very dangerous
to our intelligence agencies. It's dangerous for our country. It leaves our
agents wondering if they'll be next.

Experts say that the president can declassify anything he wants
and once he does it's declassified. Shazaam! This exchange from yesterday says
so much.

Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales left
open the possibility yesterday that President Bush could order warrantless
wiretaps on telephone calls occurring solely within the United States —
a move that would dramatically expand the reach of a controversial National
Security Agency surveillance program.

….”I'm not going to rule it out,” Gonzales
said.

….Gonzales previously testified in the Senate that
Bush had considered including purely domestic communications in the NSA spying
program, but he said the idea was rejected in part because of fears of a public
outcry.

Kevin
Drum

The Leaker in Chief can do whatever he wants. But that doesn't
mean what he's doing is right. He should be called on what he's done. In the case
of the latest revelations about leaking, it may not be illegal, but it is most
certainly immoral, unethical and indisputably un-presidential.

This is one thing the people can see for themselves and understand
what they're watching. It politicizes war, our troops fighting and puts them
in play in a political game at home that can cost lives on the front. The troops are now saluting the Leaker in Chief who used classified information for political gain in a time of war. The soldiers will get the message and they won't like it one bit.

No wonder Democrats
continue to gain on national security, while Republicans
are crumbling in the public's eye. Bush and the rubber stamp Republicans
lost their credibility on national security a long time ago. The people are
catching up and are looking at Bush and the Republicans in a different way.
Now that Bush has been found to be the Leaker in Chief, using classified information
for his own political gain, it's only going to get worse for them all.