December 22, 2005

Investigate Who Leaked the State Secrets to the NY Times

Dick Morris is as concerned as I am (per my post yesterday) about the NY Times story that betrayed state secrets to terrorists who are seeking to kill Americans. He calls for an investigation into who leaked the story to the Times:

The current leak, however, of classified material relating to National Security Agency tactics in intercepting conversations between people abroad and those within the United States is a vastly serious proposition that may have materially compromised investigations in progress and tipped terrorists off to our methods so that they can hide among us undetected.

This leak, far more than the Valerie Plame incident, deserves a full investigation to identify who spilled the beans and to whom and how. The consequences of this leak alone merit an independent investigation and, perhaps, a trial for treason. 

The bias of MSM against GWB in this case has hampered efforts to save American lives. The investigation Morris recommends should be conducted.

The GWB Tax Cuts Worked: Fastest-Growing Economy in 1-1/2 Years

From AP:

Economy Grows at Fastest Pace in 1 1/2 Years

WASHINGTON - The U.S. economy turned in a remarkably strong performance in the summer despite surging energy prices and the battering the Gulf Coast states took from hurricanes, although business growth was slightly lower than the government previously estimated. The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that the gross domestic product, the nation's total output of goods and services, rose at an annual rate of 4.1 percent in the July-September quarter. It was the fastest pace of growth in 1 1/2 years.

... The increase in third quarter growth came despite the fact that the country was hit by Katrina, the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history, and by Rita.

See also these previous posts:

The Tax Cuts Worked-Economic Expansion: Year Five

The Bush Tax Cuts Have Resulted in Higher Tax Revenue

Lower Taxes Make the Economy Stronger

Lower Tax Rates Are Resulting In Higher Tax Revenue

A Myth Debunked: Bush Tax Cuts Did Not Favor the Rich

Tax Cuts Work: Government Forecasting Incorrectly Thought Tax Costs Would Reduce Tax Revenue

Max Boot: Libs Outraged About Plame Leak Make No Objection to Leaks that Help Terrorists

Max Boot makes this amazing observation:

Plame Platoon' is AWOL on new leaks
Highly classified programs have been revealed, which could provide real aid to our enemies. So where's all that outrage now?

IT SEEMS like only yesterday that every high-minded politician, pundit and professional activist was in high dudgeon about the threat posed to national security by the revelation that Valerie Plame was a spook. For daring to reveal a CIA operative's name - in wartime, no less! - they wanted someone frog-marched out of the White House in handcuffs, preferably headed for the gallows.

Since then there have been some considerably more serious security breaches. Major media organs have broken news about secret prisons run by the CIA, the interrogation techniques employed therein, and the use of "renditions" to capture suspects, right down to the tail numbers of covert CIA aircraft. They have also reported on a secret National Security Agency program to monitor calls and e-mails from people in the U.S. to suspected terrorists abroad, and about the Pentagon's Counterintelligence Field Activity designed to protect military bases worldwide.

Most of these are highly classified programs whose revelation could provide real aid to our enemies - far more aid than revealing the name of a CIA officer who worked more or less openly at Langley, Va. We don't know what damage the latest leaks may have done, but we do know that past leaks about U.S. successes in tracking cellphones led Al Qaeda leaders to shun those devices.

So I eagerly await the righteous indignation from the Plame Platoon about the spilling of secrets in wartime and its impassioned calls for an independent counsel to prosecute the leakers. And wait ... And wait ...

I suspect it'll be a long wait because the rule of thumb seems to be that although it's treasonous for pro-Bush partisans to spill secrets that might embarrass an administration critic, it's a public service for anti-Bush partisans to spill secrets that might embarrass the administration. The determination of which secrets are OK to reveal is, of course, to be made not by officials charged with protecting our nation but by journalists charged with selling newspapers.

(via Instapundit).