Posted 12:38 PM by steve

The NYT is getting some heat for once again revealing the existence and details of a classified anti-terrorism program.

Which made me wonder: why hasn't the Bush Administration put more effort into exposing and punishing those guilty of revealing classified information? There's been one, just one, person nailed for leaking information, that being Mary the Traitor, and that being back in April. Since then, nothing. Nothing about the Adminstration going after any of Dana Priest'sother sources. Nothing. How difficult is it to throw some people into a chair and subject them to a quickie lie detector session?

Why not? Could it be, that despite their claims to the contrary, the Bush Administration actually 'enjoys' news like this coming out? It makes them look proactive in the war on terror. The liberals usually rush to denounce these programs, making them look foolish and not interested in protecting America from real threats. Bush's approval ratings bump up a bit.

And, if that is the case, is too crazy to think that the Bush Administration is leaking this stuff itself? While the NYT led the parade on this latest story, the Washington Post had its
own front page story on the program. Per Patterico, I see the LA Times did the same... and neither of which mentions the NYT. So, unless the LA Times and Washington Post are stealing the NYT story without attribution, one must conclude the leakers were talking to a whole lot of people, not just the NYT.

Which isn't something somebody worried about getting caught would do. Going to the NYT was sufficient to get the story out. Going to more ensured more coverage, but it also opened up additional pressure points for investigators to discover who was doing the leaking. If I were scared about getting caught, I sure wouldn't leak to everybody.... which makes me think the leakers weren't scared about getting caught. So, why weren't they? Because what they were doing was blessed by the Bush Administration?

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