"One possible justification" for the outing of Plame: "the order of the President"

stratfor (strategic forecasting inc.) is a highly-regarded newsletter covering major developments of interest to those working in the global environment... in a recent stratfor emailing, george friedman took an in-depth look at why the violation of noc (non-official cover) status of a cia agent is such a serious matter and why, under any circumstances save possibly one, it is illegal...

(the full text is posted on kos...)

But even if we regard the press as unethical by our standards, their actions were not illegal. On the other hand, if Rove and Libby even mentioned the name of Valerie Plame in the context of being a CIA employee -- NOC or not -- on an unsecured line to a person without a security clearance or need to know, while the nation was waging war, that is the end of the story. It really doesn't matter why or whether there was a plan or anything. The minimal story -- that they talked about Plame with a reporter -- is the end of the matter.

We can think of only one possible justification for this action: That it was done on the order of the president. The president has the authority to suspend or change security regulations if required by the national interest. The Plame affair would be cleared up if it turns out Rove and Libby were ordered to act as they did by the president. Perhaps the president is prevented by circumstances from coming forward and lifting the burden from Rove and Libby. If that is the case, it could cost him his right-hand man. But absent that explanation, it is difficult to justify the actions that were taken.

© Copyright 2005 Strategic Forecasting Inc. All rights reserved. This report may be distributed or republished with attribution to Strategic Forecasting, Inc. at www.stratfor.com.

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