And Someone Is Celebrating This?

Over at Daily Kos, they're in full frenzied celebration mode because it is possible that it was a Republican who might have been responsible for blowing the cover on the CIA secret detention facilities as was first reported in the Washington Post.

Hastert and Frist want a full fledged investigation into the secret facilities leak, but apparently former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott thinks that it was a GOPer who leaked the information.

Sorry, I don't see it as a reason to celebrate at all. No one in Washington seems to take national security seriously - not Democrats and not Republicans. People have forgotten that loose lips sink ships. People do not realize that we're in the middle of a global war and that actions have consequences. Politics should end at our borders. But for some, the minor political advantages take precedent over the long term national security needs.

If you think that Plamegate was solely about national security, you were wrong. It may have included the outing of a secret agent, but it also was a political hit job disguised as a national security matter. Able Danger is a real national security matter that has been buried in bureaucracy and the media coverage has been inversely related to its significance vis-a-vis Plamegate.

We have seen Sandy Berger turned into the butt of jokes because he violated national security by taking classified documents from the National Archives. Various CIA officials were lambasted for taking computers with sensitive information home with them when that was a violation of national security. Excuses are made, and the violators are given a slap on the wrist.

Mark Tapscott thinks that this might open the way to creating an American Official Secrets Act that would mirror the British version. It could have the effect of a massive and unprecedented crackdown on classified information passed to journalists. This is new territory for journalists, and they should tread carefully. Publius thinks:

that the expansive reading of the Espionage Act will remove a check to corrupt and illegal practices - which is precisely what Frist and Hastert (surely at the direction of others) are trying to do.

Sorry, corrupt and illegal practices start with the leaking of classified data. There is no difference between outing the locations and existence of black facilities and leaking the design plans or flaws of a nuclear submarine (oh wait, the Chinese already got their hands on that).

The fact is that leaking classified information is serious business and should be treated as such, regardless of who is doing the leaking and the reasons behind it.

Protein Wisdom has more.

UPDATE:
Speaking of Able Danger, Rep. Curt Weldon is supposed to have a press conference tomorrow on the subject.

UPDATE:
Ace discounts the Trent Lott statements, but nonetheless thinks that the leaker was none other than J_h_ M_C__n. That's quite the accusation, but it seems to fit considering his recent statements on the use of various tactics on detainees to obtain information.

UPDATE 11/9/2005:
Confederate Yankee is taking the same approach that I've taken regarding this leak, and that is to punish those who leak severely. We're talking about compromising national security, and I don't care what label you attach to your political career - D or R. If you leak classified information, you should have a new label attached to your name - convicted felon.