Valerie's Thinly Veiled Cover?

Well, the theater of the absurd that tries to pass for journalism has
gone to new lows with a goofy story in today’s Chicago Tribune. The
article, “Internet
Blows CIA Cover” claims, “It’s easy to track America’s covert
operatives. All you need to know is how to navigate the Internet.”

Oh really? Okay Mr. Crewdson (the author of this nonsense). Please
search the internet and identify 100 CIA officers for me. Go ahead.
Give it a shot. Oh, I forgot, first you need a name. You do not just
enter a random name and come up with a flashing sign that says, “this
guy is CIA”. So really what you are saying is that if I tell you
someone works for the CIA you can do a search and find out that
someone, who is a private consultant, once worked for the U.S. State
Department? In other words, you first have to be tipped off to look at
a particular person.

Well, Valerie Plame was safe until the White House pointed reporters
in her direction. Even if Crewdson’s assertion that Valerie’s cover
was “thin” (it was not), what we know for a fact is that her neighbors
did not know she worked for the CIA. Only those who had a need to know
knew.

Crewdson insinuates, but doesn’t demonstrate, that a simple search of
the internet enables one to easily identify CIA employees. The true
story is more complicated. Crewdson’s searches were conducted after
the names of individuals and companies appeared in the news. He
searched on those names and found links to the U.S. Government.
Nowhere on the internet will you find a list of undercover folks that
says, “they really work for the CIA”. Crewdson is right about one
point, the CIA has done a lousy job of developing effective cover
positions. But that is a failure of leaders like Tenet rather than
officers, such as Valerie Plame.

But here is what is really fascinating. Crewdson says he identified
2600 CIA officers but, out of concern for national security, declined
to out them. Thank you Mr. Crewdson. At least you understand that
blowing someones cover, even a thin one, would be an act of treason. I
am in favor of having Crewdson give Bob Novak a lesson in journalistic
ethics and responsibility.

There is no such thing as ironclad cover. Whether Valerie Plame’s
cover was thin or deep, the basic fact remains–she was an undercover
intelligence officer and expected senior government officials to
protect this secret. Scooter Libby, Karl Rove, and Dick Cheney, who
learned that she was a CIA officer, were obligated to protect that
secret. Instead, they betrayed Valerie and helped destroy an
intelligence network that was devoted to trying to prevent Iran from
acquiring nuclear weapons. That’s the real story that true Americans
should be fretting over.

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Larry C. Johnson is CEO and co-founder
of BERG Associates, LLC, an international business-consulting firm
that helps corporations and governments manage threats posed by
terrorism and money laundering. Mr. Johnson, who worked previously
with the Central Intelligence Agency and U.S. State Department’s
Office of Counter Terrorism (as a Deputy Director), is a recognized
expert in the fields of terrorism, aviation security, crisis and risk
management. Mr. Johnson has analyzed terrorist incidents for a variety
of media including the Jim Lehrer News Hour, National Public Radio,
ABC’s Nightline, NBC’s Today Show, the New York Times, CNN, Fox News,
and the BBC. Mr. Johnson has authored several articles for
publications, including Security Management Magazine, the New York
Times, and The Los Angeles Times. He has lectured on terrorism and
aviation security around the world. Further bio
details.