Did a REAL investigation happen because REAL damage to more than 1 agent?

[lostnfound]

The value of a single career shut down must be huge. But many have wondered whether there were actual lives lost, and whether the Brewster-Jennings front was shut down intentionally.
Fitzgerald didn't give us an answer (when asked "what kind of damage occurred?"), and we will probably never know.

But watching the Fitzgerald press conference, I was especially riveted by his response and his expressions in answer to that question. And I wondered, if one or more assets lost their lives as a result, whether there is any way that the CIA could even stay GOVERNABLE at that point -- whether the annoyance, resentment and rift with the White House that existed prior to the leak would have simply exploded if this had NOT been truly investigated and punished?

Living a covert life as an agent must make the treachery of this leak intolerable whether or not deaths resulted. And Fitzgerald also pointed out the simplest scenario, where simply reducing the number of applicants to the agency was a real form of damage.

***************************************************************
QUESTION: Mr. Fitzgerald, you've said that there was damage done to all of us, damage to the entire nation. Can you be any more specific about what kind of damage you're talking about?

FITZGERALD: The short answer is no. But I can just say this: I'm not going to comment on things beyond what's said in the indictment.

I can say that for the people who work at the CIA and work at other places, they have to expect that when they do their jobs that classified information will be protected. And they have to expect that when they do their jobs, that information about whether or not they are affiliated with the CIA will be protected.

And they run a risk when they work for the CIA that something bad could happen to them, but they have to make sure that they don't run the risk that something bad is going to happen to them from something done by their own fellow government employees.

But getting to the specifics of the damage, I won't.

[niyad]

1. and we know that it isn't just agents in place now--this situation has

damaged the ability of the CIA to get anyone in other countries to work as "human intelligence", thus weakening our ability to gather accurate information.

but then, this administration thinks it is okay to make things up out of whole cloth, foregoing the need for "humint" or any sort of intelligence at all.

[FogerRox]

2. Ray McGovern

24 years CIA-- said there was a post mortem done by the CIA-- in essence you do a post mortem when someone dies--

SO at least one is dead 'cause of Plamegate-- & The DCI made a criminal referal to the DOJ.

thats how this got started

[SeattleGirl]

3. I heard him on Randi the other day.

He definitely seemed to think there had been more than just a small amount of damage done by this outing.

[lostnfound]

5. Oh thanks, I hadn't heard that. I've not heard Ray in a while.. nt

[Aimah]

4. I think he means damage to Americans trust of the govt...

and the safety of agents. That's the meaning I got when I heard it initially.

[joemurphy]

6. Well, there were the 8 blank pages in the DC Court of Appeals

Opinion in the Miller case. All of the judges were plainly disturbed about something. One can only wonder if that involved the consequences to Brewster Jennings and the people involved with it.

[lostnfound]

8. I also wonder about Brewster-Jennings as a possible MOTIVE.

The hypothesis that the BFEE wanted -- more than revenge for Wilson's opposition and setting an example for others--to take down an effective spying operation that was focused on nuclear weapons smuggling is interesting to me. Especially in light of various vague comments made by Sibel Edmonds like in this interview.

http://www.antiwar.com/deliso/?articleid=6934
But I can tell you there are a lot of people involved, a lot of ranking officials, and a lot of illegal activities that include multi-billion-dollar drug-smuggling operations, black-market nuclear sales to terrorists and unsavory regimes, you name it. And of course a lot of people from abroad are involved. It's massive. So to do this investigation, to really do it, they will have to look into everything.

[KerryOn]

7. Here is a list of consequences that I came up with....

The way I see it theres a lot more to it then the lives of CIA agents.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5215305

[cynatnite]

9. From MSNBC: CIA mum on damage done by Plame outing

snip:
A small Boston company listed as her employer suddenly was shown to be a bogus CIA front, and her alma mater in Belgium discovered it was a favored haunt of an American spy. At Langley, officials in the clandestine service quickly began drawing up a list of contacts and friends, cultivated over more than a decade, to triage any immediate damage

snip:
Intelligence officials said they would never reveal the true extent of her contacts to protect the agency and its work.

"You'll never get a straight answer about how valuable she was or how valuable her sources were," said one intelligence official who would speak only anonymously.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9856806

[FogerRox]

10. one might also consider that Ms Plame has never defended herself in public

And ask your self why?

Because she is undercover--- she is not allowed to say squat- prohibited by her bosses at the CIA----