I was going to just include this in the upcoming Bozone Awards but this is so stupid that it deserves its own little mention. This is not only stupid but criminal activity from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence members. Jeff Babin reports on this idiocy.
Don’t Play "Misty" for Me
By Jed Babbin
Published 12/16/2004
12:08:30 AM
How long are we going to tolerate senators and congressmen who
divulge our most closely-held secrets to the public in search of cheap political
gain? We have laws that make those leaks serious federal crimes. We're spending
enormous resources on finding out who leaked Valerie Plame's identity as a CIA
agent to the press. Leaks that are vastly more important -- and which should be
pursued with no less determination and resources -- are regularly ignored
because the culprits are sitting members of Congress. These leakers should be
thrown out of office and prosecuted. It's been about two years since Sen.
Richard Shelby blew one of our most important secrets -- that we were bugging
Osama bin Laden's cell phone, a fact that could have led to the capture of
America's most wanted terrorist -- by bragging about it to a reporter. Shelby's
action (if it really was him) has never been prosecuted. Why not? Now, another
huge leak comes in the form of the disclosure by members of the Senate of a
highly-classified satellite program. Three members of the Senate Select
Committee on Intelligence have apparently committed a very serious crime by
blabbing about a highly-classified satellite program to the press last week. If
these men actually did what it appears they did, we ought to throw the book at
'em for divulging one of our most-protected secrets: stealthy reconnaissance
satellites. As a result of their revelations to the public and the press, three
U.S. Senators -- Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), who's also the ranking Dem on
the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sen. Ron Wyden
(D-Ore.) -- are the subject of a "criminal referral" made on Monday for speaking
publicly about this satellite. Such referrals are made to the Justice Department
by the administration when criminal conduct is suspected. In this case, it's not
only suspected, it's evidenced on the front pages of the New York Times and the
Washington Post. A highly reliable intelligence community source told me that
the referral had been made because senior administration officials were beside
themselves that the three had taken the controversy on funding this project to
the press. YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND that the kind of project we're talking about
is protected by the highest level of security our government has. When Sandy
Bergler was carrying "code word" level papers out of the National Archives in
his pants and socks, he was committing a federal felony. So -- according to
sources -- was Sen. Richard Shelby, who is the subject of an earlier criminal
referral for blabbing about our bugging OBL's cell phone. When the government
buys something secret, those that are most classified are called "black"
programs because their existence can't even be admitted. They aren't listed in
the public versions of legislation that authorizes and pays for them. Black
programs are made so for a reason. Think about why we might build a stealthy
satellite. Many nations, including Iran and other terrorist regimes, have the
ability to spot conventional satellites on their radars. They can predict with
considerable accuracy what those satellites can see, and when. If we had a
satellite that couldn't be seen, its view of the bad guys couldn't be predicted.
Now, these three senators have blown the cover on a black satellite program that
may be code-word named "Misty," and by so doing, reduced the value of the
satellite and the strategy that it is to implement to zero. To be cleared for
these programs, which the senators and their intel staffers all are, each had to
be briefed in detail about their legal obligations, and how the information has
to be handled. They would have had to sign agreements such as the one I signed
when I had these clearances. The paperwork warns you -- loudly and clearly --
that this is a damned serious matter. If they divulged information on this
program -- whatever the program may actually be -- they broke the law knowingly
and intentionally. The three senators made a variety of disclosures about the
program. Rockefeller made a statement on the Senate floor which his staff claims
was "fully vetted and approved by security officials." Baloney. According to a
congressional source, Rockefeller's statement wasn't cleared with anyone in the
Pentagon or CIA, and wasn't checked by the Intelligence Committee majority
staff. Whomever "vetted" it isn't clear, but it wasn't done by the proper
authorities.....
This is something that should get widespread attention bu t won't because of who is involved. As "they" say, read the whole thing.
|