http://www.workingforchange.com/arti...m?itemid=15805

;)

Nice! [img]graemlins/biglaugh.gif[/img]

I suspected Batman was a phony all along. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Actually Plame was pulled out of the field years ago when her cover was blown by a spy in the FBI.

Where exactly did you pull that 'fact' from?

I bit of info from a couple of former CIA agents:

Ex-agents: CIA leak a serious betrayal
Friday, October 24, 2003 Posted: 1619 GMT (12:19 AM HKT)

Excerpt:
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The FBI is interviewing members of the Bush administration as part of its investigation into the leak of a CIA operative's identity. The officer's name was revealed after her husband, former U.S. ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, raised questions about the pre-war intelligence on Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction.

Two former CIA operatives, Larry Johnson and Jim Marcinkowski, have asked the Senate to investigate the leak and discussed the situation with CNN's Bill Hemmer.

....

MARCHINKOWSKI: Yes, I did. I think the message is out there. This is an unprecedented act. This has never been done by the United States government before. The exposure of an undercover intelligence officer by the U.S. government is unprecedented. It's not the usual leak from Washington. The leak a week scenario is not at play here. This is a very, very serious event.

HEMMER: You are both registered Republicans, right? How concerned are you about the political gain that one side or the other may seek in this?

JOHNSON: That's what we have to get out of this. I don't know, Bill if you have any kids, they've gone to school on "opposite day" where they wear their clothes inside out and wear their shoes on the wrong feet. I feel like we're seeing opposite day. If a Democrat had done this, we would see the Republicans up in arms.

As a Republican, I think we need to be consistent on this. It doesn't matter who did it, it didn't matter which party was involved. This isn't about partisan politics. This is about protecting national security and national security assets and in this case there has been a betrayal, not only of the CIA officers there, but really a betrayal of those of us who have kept the secrets over the years on this point.

<font color = lightgreen>This is why the only truly effective spy for a government is one over whom that government has no authority and about which that government has no knowledge. That is, the only effective spy is completely independent. True, that makes the likelihood of betrayal high, but in the high-stakes world of international espionage you must be willing to bet the farm. Plausible deniability protects both government and spy.

Not that I am an expert on international espionage, mind you...just an observation. [img]graemlins/beigesmilewinkgrin.gif[/img] </font>