This isn't even a fair fight; Mr. Ackerman is in possession of the higher ground. But then ideologues such as May always fight the dirtiest when they're trying to hold to an inferior position, so who knows what low blows await. This is Ackerman's opening salvo:
Cliff:
For an illustration of why the blown cover of a clandestine CIA officer by two senior administration officials is a cause for outrage, point your browser to www.cubalinda.com. There you'll find a tourism and travel site for what John F. Kennedy once called 'that imprisoned island,' made all the more offensive by the character running it. His name is Philip Agee. From 1957 to 1969 he worked on Latin America issues for the CIA while nurturing a political grudge against the country he served. Those politics led him in 1975 to publish a screed called Inside The Company, which apparently spent 22 pages exposing the identities of CIA covert operatives. The CIA has long charged that Agee's list compromised the identity of its Athens station chief, Richard Welch, who was murdered by leftist terrorists that year. Agee subsequently skipped out to his beloved Cuba. Here's what former President and CIA Director George H.W. Bush had to say about it: "I will never forgive Philip Agee and those like him who wantonly sacrifice the lives of intelligence officers who loyally serve their country."
[...]
The fact is, as NBC reported yesterday, in July CIA lawyers affirmed to the Justice Department that Plame's identity was classified. Everything else is just noise.
As a result, Bush should do what it takes to reassure the American people that he doesn't put his political interests ahead of the national interest: Find the leakers, and, if the Justice Department considers it appropriate, offer them up to face charges under the 1982 Intelligence Identities Protection Act, enacted in no small part because of [Richard] Welch's murder. I'd argue that this is the patriotic duty of any president in similar circumstances.
[...]
Leaving the investigation to the Ashcroft Justice Department is not without perils for Bush, as yesterday's Wall Street Journal observes: "If charges are brought against the source of the leak, it could indicate that the administration sought to silence critics of its decision to go to war. If no charges are filed, questions could arise as to whether the department pursued the case aggressively, and lead to calls for an independent inquiry." Not the sort of albatross I'd want around my neck with only a year to go before the election.
So, shouldn't the president--for either the security interests of the country or for his own political self-interest, take your pick--simply smoke out those on his staff who spilled the beans about Valerie Plame? I don't see any other relevant question here. Aside, of course, from who exactly it was that decided that tarnishing Joe Wilson's reputation was worth potentially compromising the national security of the United States.
