Valerie Plame Discussion
Haven’t written in a while, but here is a fantastic nonpartisan discussion of the Valerie Plame case:
There is an explicit and implicit contract between the United States and its NOCs. It has many parts, but there is one fundamental part: A NOC will never reveal that he is or was a NOC without special permission. When he does reveal it, he never gives specifics. The government also makes a guarantee — it will never reveal the identity of a NOC under any circumstances and, in fact, will do everything to protect it. If you have lied to your closest friends for 30 years about who you are and why you talk to them, no government bureaucrat has the right to reveal your identity for you. Imagine if you had never told your children — and never planned to tell your children — that you worked for the CIA, and they suddenly read in The New York Times that you were someone other than they thought you were.