CIA Agent Fired for Secret Prison Leak is a Hero

The world of intelligence is one of secrecy and discretion. It is vital for America, especially when engaged in a war, for its intelligence operatives to keep their mouths shut. Mary McCarthy told the press that the US had secret, CIA-run prisons in Eastern Europe, and was fired for doing so. However, rather than face loss of job and prosecution, she should be promoted and given a medal. By blowing the whistle, she was defending America’s foundations.

As part of a long, drawn out investigation, the CIA reported on Friday that an “officer knowingly and willfully shared classified intelligence, including operational information,” that she failed a polygraph test and admitted to unauthorized contacts with reporters. It is difficult to believe that in the 21st Century the US government still believes in the voodoo of polygraph tests, but since she admitted to the contacts, there is little choice but to believe the investigation has the right person in Ms. McCarthy (who was identified by NBC and not by the CIA).

One of her contacts was Dana Priest of the Washington Post who won a Pulitzer for reporting on the “black sites” where the US government has “disappeared” people like some comic opera Latin American dictatorship. With regard to the case, CIA chief Porter Goss said, “I’m sorry to tell you that the damage has been very severe to our capabilities to carry out our mission. I use the words ‘very severe’ intentionally. That is my belief. And I think that the evidence will show that.” Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas, Republican chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, issued a statement saying, “Clearly, those guilty of improperly disclosing classified information should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

That would be interesting to say the least. Ms. McCarthy would be able to call each and every CIA officer involved in this shameful and Un-American behavior and, in open court, challenge their decisions and their legal authority to violate human rights on such a grand scale. This journal suspects more than one officer would claim to have “just followed orders.” The CIA deserves better than that, and so does the USA.

In the end, it comes back to what arch-conservative Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said about Abu Ghraib, “When you are the good guys, you’ve got to act like the good guys.” America either stands for freedom and liberty or it operates secret prisons. Either its intelligence operatives act to preserve the Bill of Rights for all, or they act to subvert it. From Lexington-Concord to Fallujah, Americans died for something better than this abominable program. Ms. McCarthy merely acted like a patriot in blowing the whistle on those who perpetrated this war crime -- the term is chosen very selectively and with deliberation.

© Copyright 2006 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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