A witch hunt? Really?

I would like to call your attention to an "Exclusive" written by Brian Ross of ABCNews. In this exclusive is detailed the absolute witch hunt that is taking place at the CIA, where Porter Goss(awesome name btw) is trying to cut down on information being leaked to the media. The title sounds very ominus "Is CIA Leak Probe a 'Witch Hunt'". But when you get to the meat of the article it's hard to find any stake burning going on:

ABC News: EXCLUSIVE: Is CIA Leak Probe a 'Witch Hunt'?: "The director of the CIA has launched a major internal probe into media leaks about covert operations. In an agencywide e-mail, Porter Goss blamed 'a very small number of people' for leaks about secret CIA operations that, in his words, 'do damage to the credibility of the agency.'

According to people familiar with the Goss e-mail, sent in late January and classified secret, the CIA director warned that any CIA officer deemed suspect by the agency's Office of Security and its Counter Intelligence Center (which handles internal affairs) could be subjected to an unscheduled lie detector test. CIA personnel are subjected to polygraphs at regular intervals in their careers, but one former intelligence officer called the new warning a 'witch hunt.' Others said Goss' e-mail was narrowly focused and did not suggest agencywide, random lie detector tests."

If you read the whole thing it just appears that the director of the secret agency is trying to keep the secrets from being told to the wrong people.

Now this investigation is at least partly a reaction to the existence of a top secret wiretapping program being leaked to the New York Times. Something that, legal arguments aside, greatly damaged our counter terrorist efforts.

But this is a 'Witch Hunt'!!! Why it's the job of the press to learn secrets that might damage our national security, and then report them to the world. Haven't you seen All The Presidents Men? How dare the CIA want to keep secrets....secret?

I have to wonder if Brian Ross knows what a witch hunt actually is. I guess you have to come at it from his perspective, this is the Bush administration so any secrets are going to be of the evil variety and exposing them to the world is the right and moral thing to do. Indeed reporters for ABCNews are entitled to know and disseminate state secrets.

Imagine how Scooter Libby must feel right now. An investigation in to the leaking of a secret that did actual damage to our national security is being called a witch hunt. Meanwhile he is being prosecuted for lying in an investigation in to an "outing" of a CIA agent that was found to not be a crime and in no way damaged national security. Sheesh, I guess we should trust them, they seem to have this witch hunt thing down pat. Hypocrites!

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