If You Know What I Mean

From today's live chat with Howard Kurtz:

Memphis, Tenn.: On Larry King, Bob Woodward said:

"They did a -Plame outing damage assessment within the CIA, looking at what this did that Joe Wilson's wife was outed. And turned out it was quite minimal damage..."

In Saturday's Washington Post, Dafna Linzer said:

"The CIA has not conducted a formal damage assessment, as is routinely done in cases of espionage and after any legal proceedings have been exhausted."

Which is it? Did they, or did they not? If not, how do we reconscile with an ex-CIA operative's assertion (and good common sense) that the CIA always does a damage assessment in these cases, if only for the protection of their their people and assets?

Or do either of these writers really know what they're talking about?

Finally, a comment. Is Bob Woodward really a journalist? Or is he someone who writes books, needs to stay on good terms with his inside White House contacts, and for that reason passes spin on to his readers and viewers, seemingly without guilt or remorse?

Howard Kurtz: Woodward doesn't need me to defend him on journalistic grounds, but even his detractors would say he's extremely well sourced at agencies like the CIA. I suspect the difference may lie in The Post saying the agency hasn't done a "formal" assessment, while Woodward is talking about a review that lacks official status. But that's just an educated guess.

I don't want to say which reporter I'd bet on, if I had to choose, when trying to understand what's going on at the CIA. But let's just say it wouldn't be Linzer.

Anyway, like others in the blogosphere, I have a hard time believing the CIA was overly concerned with Valerie Plame's cover, considering the agency let her husband publish an Op-Ed in the New York Times attacking the Bush Administration.

Comments

[anonymous]

I guess the DOJ criminal conspiracy lawyer missed the 10 assassinations of Operations officers in Iraq immediately after the 'Vanity Fair' article, the Madrid bombing, and Italy asking all those CIA guys to leave. DOJ now reports to CIA, so I guess it all okay now.............