By KEN DILANIAN
WASHINGTON (AP) — In an
embarrassing flub, the Obama administration accidentally revealed the
name of the CIA's top official in Afghanistan in an email to thousands
of journalists during the president's surprise Memorial Day weekend trip
to Bagram Air Field.
The officer's
name — identified as "chief of station" in Kabul — was included by U.S.
embassy staff on a list of 15 senior American officials who met with
President Obama during the Saturday visit. The list was sent to a
Washington Post reporter who was representing the news media, who then
sent it out to the White House "press pool" list, which contains as many
as 6,000 recipients.
The Associated Press is
withholding the officer's name at the request of the Obama
administration, who said its publication could put his life and those of
his family members in danger. A Google search appears to reveal the
name of the officer's wife and other personal details.
White
House officials realized the error after the Post reporter notified
them, and sent out a new list without the station chief's name. Other
major news organizations, including the Post, also agreed not to publish
the officer's name.
The
reporter who distributes the pool report sends it to the White House to
be checked for factual accuracy and then forwarded to the thousands of
journalists on the email distribution list, so in this case the White
House failed on at least two occasions to recognize that the CIA
official's name was being revealed and circulated so broadly.
The intentional disclosure of the
name of a "covered" operative is a crime under the U.S. Intelligence
Identities Protection Act. A former CIA officer, John Kiriakou, was
sentenced to 30 months in prison in January after pleading guilty to
disclosing to a reporter the name of an undercover agency officer.
"I
doubt anyone from the White House is going to be prosecuted over this,"
said Jessclyn Raddack, who represented Kiriakou. "It shows the
continuing double standard over leaks."
In
2003, Valerie Plame was exposed as a CIA operative by officials of the
George W. Bush administration in an effort to discredit her husband, a
former ambassador who had criticized the decision to invade Iraq. A top
aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, was convicted
of perjury and obstruction of justice in the case, and sentenced to 30
months in prison, though Bush commuted the prison sentence.
Members of the CIA's operations
arm, called the National Clandestine Service, are typically given cover
identities to protect both them and the sources they have recruited
abroad. The station chief, who manages all CIA operations in the
country, is often a senior officer whose true name is known to the host
nation and other intelligence agencies. The term "station chief" is
sensitive enough, however, that former officers usually are not allowed
to use it in their resumes in connection with specific countries, even
after their covers have been lifted.
Because
the Afghanistan station chief is known to Afghan officials and lives in
a heavily guarded compound, he may be able to continue in his job. In
2010, the CIA station chief in Pakistan, Jonathan Bank, was evacuated
after local newspapers published his name in connection with a lawsuit,
and he was threatened.
The disclosure didn't prevent Bank from landing another sensitive job:
He became chief of the Iran operations division at CIA headquarters at
Langley. He was removed from that post in March after CIA officials
concluded he created a hostile work environment in the division. He has
since been detailed to the Pentagon's intelligence arm.
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