Intelligence

DATE=9/30/03

TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP

NAME=C-I-A / DISCLOSURE INCIDENT

NUMBER=6-130108

BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE

DATELINE=Washington

EDITOR=Assignments

TELEPHONE=619-3335

CONTENT=

INTRO: A topic related to the Iraq war has surged into America's headlines and into the editorial columns. Members of the Bush administration are being accused of disclosing the identity of a Central Intelligence Agency [C-I-A] officer to the media. This disclosure or "leak" as it is called, was allegedly done in retaliation for a report by the woman's husband that cast doubt on a major reason for going to war with Iraq. As editorials begin to mount on this topic, we get a sampling from V-O-A's ______________ in today's U-S Opinion Roundup.

TEXT: The incident grew out of a report by former Ambassador Joseph Wilson the 4th that Saddam Hussein had not tried to buy enriched uranium ore from the West African nation of Niger, as alleged in President Bush's State of the Union speech. The president used the claim as he made the case for going to war. Later, an administration official reportedly told a well-known [Chicago Sun-Times] newspaper columnist, Robert Novak, that Mr. Wilson's wife is a C-I-A officer. Mr. Novak identified the wife as such in one of his columns.

Now the C-I-A is demanding a full investigation into who made this disclosure, which could be a federal crime. And in the press, there are calls for Mr. Bush to take swift action. In the view of Missouri's Saint Louis Post-Dispatch:

VOICE: President Bush has a mini-scandal brewing over [these] allegations. The White House was angry with Mr. Wilson for debunking the president's claim that Iraq had tried to buy uranium from Niger. Mr. Wilson had investigated the claim and reported his findings well before Mr. Bush repeated the allegation in his State of the Union speech in January. The Wilson episode has some of the same elements as the David Kelly affair in Britain. Prime Minister Tony Blair's ministers told the press that Mr. Kelly had been the source of the B-B-C report that Blair advisers had "sexed-up" [Editors: British slang for "exaggerated"] the intelligence dossier on Iraq. The leak led to Mr. Kelly's suicide and a high-level inquiry.

TEXT: In the opinion of The Houston [Texas] Chronicle, "President Bush must identify [and] fire those who leaked [the] C-I-A name." The Chronicle adds:

VOICE: The leak happened. Well-connected conservative columnist Robert Novak reported in July that two administration officials had disclosed [her] name. If President Bush wishes to avoid the slow drip, drip, drip of scandal, stonewalling and the inevitable charges of cover-up, he will energetically seek to learn the identities of the offending parties and show them the door. [Editors: slang for "fire them"]

TEXT: Another very upset daily is Tennessee's Memphis Commercial Appeal.

VOICE: It is against the law for a government official to disclose the identity of a covert C-I-A operative, for good reason. The person's usefulness would end, the identity of informants could be discovered, unfriendly forces could be aided in obtaining information that is harmful to this country, and lives could be jeopardized. Not only should the Justice Department do its best to get to the bottom of this mess, the White House should be proactive in its pledge of cooperation.

TEXT: In Ohio, Cleveland's Plain Dealer feels this could have serious consequences for the president.

VOICE: A little cloud of illegality is forming over [Mr.] Bush's White House. If the president does not act quickly to dissipate it, he may well be swimming for his political life in the deluge of accusations that surely will follow. The apparent intent [of the leak] was to belittle the outspoken [former ambassador Joseph] Wilson in revenge for the embarrassment [President] Bush suffered after citing the apparently baseless yellow cake [enriched uranium ore] story in the State of the Union message. If the story, as reported, is true, then immediate resignations - and prosecutions, if applicable - are in order.

TEXT: Turning to Maryland, Baltimore's Sun points out that Mr. Bush has a familial connection to the affected agency that should spur him to fast action.

VOICE: Surely Mr. Bush, whose father once headed the C-I-A, doesn't want to even inadvertently send the signal that Americans who devote their lives to such dangerous work in service to the nation also risk being sacrificed for domestic political purposes. This incident is too important to the embattled U-S intelligence community to be relegated to a routine Justice Department investigation - or worse, to the haymaking [Editors: slang for "using for political advantage"] of Mr. Bush's Democratic challengers. Leaking is standard operating procedure in Washington, but the offense here is so grave that the president must act immediately to find out who is responsible and at the very least demand their resignations.

TEXT: On that assessment from The Sun in Baltimore, we conclude this editorial sampling on the controversy surrounding the naming of a C-I-A officer involved in weapons analysis.

NEB/ANG/RH