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February 10, 2012
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David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
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Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
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Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
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Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
Feb. 7, 2006
/ 9 Shevat, 5766
The leak double standard
By
Rich Lowry
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Poor "Scooter" Libby. Vice President Dick Cheney's former top aide, who stepped aside after being indicted last year, could have been a heroic whistle-blower. If only he had leaked about anything other than the fact that President Bush critic Joe Wilson's wife worked at the CIA.
It still is not clear that this information in any way harmed national security. Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, was probably not undercover. But Libby has been portrayed as the greatest internal threat to the nation since the Rosenbergs. The media demanded an Inspector Javert-style investigation into the leak, which resulted in Libby's indictment not for the leak itself, but for his supposedly dishonest answers about his role.
As his legal bills mount, Libby must be stunned to watch the lionization of the leakers who exposed the secret National Security Agency eavesdropping program and secret U.S. prisons in Europe. The new rule apparently is that leaks are acceptable only when they actually compromise important national-security programs. If, in contrast, a leak does no real harm to national security, but can be used as a cudgel against President Bush, then it is an act of national betrayal.
Democrats pooh-pooh any negative fallout from the NSA leak on grounds that terrorists already know that we are trying to surveil them. The furor over the program, however, reminds terrorists to be very careful. This is not nothing. Mafia cases are often built on the astonishing sloppiness that complacency lures mobsters into.
If terrorists didn't know that roughly a third of global communications traffic is now routed through the United States, presenting an easy opportunity to monitor it, now they do. Administration officials strongly suggest that there are aspects of the program that are still secret and extremely sensitive. There is no way to evaluate the merits of this claim, since no one knows what these specifics are. But we are going to find out.
Already, journalists are writing instructive reading for the people trying to evade surveillance. A Washington Post story published this past weekend reported on how we use "link analysis" to connect one terrorist to another (shared telephone numbers, post-office boxes and contact addresses). The story also explained what behavior is likely to target someone for surveillance, e.g., visiting the Pakistani province of Waziristan and repeatedly switching cell phones.
If none of this was classified, the logic of this kind of story means revealing more rather than less. When The Washington Post reported on secret prisons the U.S. had in Europe to hold top-level terror suspects, it didn't identify the countries involved, but the European press quickly outed Romania and Poland. The two countries could now be terrorist targets; they have been subject to intense criticism within Europe; and they have reason never to trust the U.S. again. One Polish insider told National Review's Byron York, "The next time we are asked to do an operation in common, we will always think twice about your intelligence community's ability to keep a secret."
Think twice? How about think three or four times? We have become utterly incapable of secrecy. Ever since Vietnam and Watergate, many people don't trust the government with any secret programs whatsoever. It is true that openness and transparency are important, but it can't be that secrecy is never a good idea the operating assumption of the left that hails every leak except Libby's.
The media shares the assumption. In a review of the new book by James Risen, the New York Times reporter who disclosed the NSA program, author Walter Isaacson notes that Risen "appears to feel that if something is secret and interesting, it should be exposed."
The U.S. is in a kind of arms race with al-Qaida. They innovate in their methods and we try to innovate in ours, but without revealing too much so the terrorists can't adjust in turn. The advantage our enemies have is that eventually some reporter is always going to give them a heads-up.
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© 2006 King Features Syndicate
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