From: "George Sherwood" 

On Sat, 08 Apr 2006 23:48:37 +0100, Adam wrote:

> "I've constantly expressed my displeasure with leaks, particularly leaks
> of classified information."
>
> Answers on a postcard to.....
>
Good editorial in the Washington Post today on this whole affair.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/08/AR2006040800895
.html

PRESIDENT BUSH was right to approve the declassification of parts of a
National Intelligence Estimate about Iraq three years ago in order to make
clear why he had believed that Saddam Hussein was seeking nuclear weapons.
Presidents are authorized to declassify sensitive material, and the public
benefits when they do. But the administration handled the release clumsily,
exposing Mr. Bush to the hyperbolic charges of misconduct and hypocrisy
that Democrats are leveling.

Mr. Wilson subsequently claimed that the White House set out to punish him
for his supposed whistle-blowing by deliberately blowing the cover of his
wife, Valerie Plame, who he said was an undercover CIA operative. This
prompted the investigation by Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald. After
more than 2 1/2 years of investigation, Mr. Fitzgerald has reported no
evidence to support Mr. Wilson's charge. In last week's court filings, he
stated that Mr. Bush did not authorize the leak of Ms. Plame's identity.
Mr. Libby's motive in allegedly disclosing her name to reporters, Mr.
Fitzgerald said, was to disprove yet another false assertion, that Mr.
Wilson had been dispatched to Niger by Mr. Cheney. In fact Mr. Wilson was
recommended for the trip by his wife. Mr. Libby is charged with perjury,
for having lied about his discussions with two reporters. Yet neither the
columnist who published Ms. Plame's name, Robert D. Novak, nor Mr. Novak's
two sources have been charged with any wrongdoing.

George

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