Posted on 04/19/2006 5:12:02 PM PDT by RealTeen
A critic of mine tried to say that the recently released memos which showed no indication of Plame's identity being secret were actually marked secret. You can read our entire exchange HERE, and I figured I'd break down the evidence. First off, let's look at THE PICTURE of the memo:
declassify- To cancel the security classification of an item of classified matter. Also called DECL.
1.6 X 1: Reveal an intelligence source, method or activity, or a cryptologic system or activity
You better send this to Peter Fitzgerald the prosecutor.
This version was recently released, and the things added were the writing on the top right and the UNCLASSIFIED designation. On the original however (which was released in July of 2003, prior to the "leak") there was the DECL wording, which means it was declassified before her identity was revealed.
Did Dan Rather see this one?
You mean Patrick Fitzgerald.
Interesting find.
They redacted sensitive information about the Niger Uranium matter in the paragraph that mentions Val Plame. That stuff is probably still classified and leads me to believe Joe's OPED pieces touched the classified world.
One other thing to point out and the spook types may be able to explain better. The status of a truly covert operative has to be at the highest levels of classification this country has. Her name being mentioned in a paragraph classified as SECRET NOFORN leads me to beleive she wasn't in a Covert program.
They redacted sensitive information about the Niger Uranium matter in the paragraph that mentions Val Plame. That stuff is probably still classified and leads me to believe Joe's OPED pieces touched the classified world.
One other thing to point out and the spook types may be able to explain better. The status of a truly covert operative has to be at the highest levels of classification this country has. Her name being mentioned in a paragraph classified as SECRET NOFORN leads me to beleive she wasn't in a Covert program.
Good job.
This is why no one has been charged with the 'crime' of revealing her name.
>>On the original however (which was released in July of 2003, prior to the "leak") there was the DECL wording, which means it was declassified before her identity was revealed.<<
Thanks for that explanation.
Sure thing. No one can argue semantics with this one. If the info was declassified (which this proves it was) then nothing illegal happened. Stop the indictments and shut up!
Who authorized the declassification
Just curious
Why don't they just release the fact that she wasn't covert? Why the self-mutilation?
That's going to be the next question in the works. I'm only 16 (you might remember me as the Conservative teen with liberal parents from Rush. I was on before Christmas) so there is only so much I can find.
The only reason why this document was classified was to protect the identity of the INR staff Member. The rest is just an summary and really no need for that portion to be classified above FOUO.
Darkwing, the declassification tag on the document was ON THE 2003 RELEASE of the document. That's the DECL tag on it which I explained. It was RELEASED and the unclassified tag was added in 2006.
"Why don't they just release the fact that she wasn't covert? Why the self-mutilation?"
That would seem to be the sort of minimum decency required....
Well...My memory is a little fuzzy but I believe the only people who can declassify are the originators of the material or the POTUS. If the information was developed within the CIA either they or the POTUS declassified it.
Now a debate will bring out about whether or not this information SHOULD have been declassified. The Left will try to continue the debate, but the legalities will be on our side now.
I'm on your side, but I offer this as a military intelligence officer with 20 years service, who had to deal constantly with declassifying documents.
DECL does not mean a document is declassified; it is an instruction to handlers that means that it can only be declassified from SECRET according to the category "1.6 X 1: Revealing an intelligence source." You would then have to look up that category in a DoD Security Regulation to determine when it can be declassified.
The person to send it to is the DoJ people who recused themselves so that Fitzgerald was given the opportunity to harass Bush Administration officials who were trying to serve the national interest.It would have been a bit of a hassle handling the press corps until this memo turned up - but then it would have settled down to the usual straining at gnats and swallowing of camels that we expect from journalists.
Well, you are an expert. From what I looked up on this, it was already declassified as of the July 7,2003 release.
Wouldn't a source be in an SCI program?
The President is the ultimate declassification authority, thus he can never be charged with leaking information. My personal belief that the person who leaked that Valarie Wilson was working for the CIA was Joe Wilson.
I bet, if you search here on the Free Republic you can find your proof. If I find something I'll post it to you.
I understand that DECL is a declassification instruction but evidence shows that her identity was not secret in this document, and the declassification was allowed as to reveal intelligence information. Also, I believe it was declassified in July of 2003.
Both could be true.
If an authority high up enough says to declassify something, then "natch", it will be declassified. However, sometimes when that authority is a 4-star general, that is not "high enough"; I'll save that for another time.
Nevertheless, that is what the "DECL" means: it is a handling instruction. This is to ensure that something that is stamped SECRET doesn't stay secret forever. When I was in a Bomb Wing in 1974, the Wing History dating from the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) was still Top Secret, which was ridiculous.
Doesn't really downplay the significance of this revelation. There were specific instructions in place to declassify this info, and I believe the requirements were met in 2003.
If she was in such a covert program would her name appear on a memo marked SECRET NOFORN?
Here is the thread that discusses the memo; 100 plus comments:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1616316/posts
I would like to know who did the redacting because obviously on this date they redacted some names but not hers.
I think you are wrong. Most classified documents have a marking to indicate when or how it would be declassified. I'm not sure what the current format is - but that is what it looks like to me.
I hate it when I go do chores for the wife while midway thru a reply, and then hit post and find out a dozen people said the same thing while I was in the garage...
Beacuse she wasn't. She was only a desk analyst...
No Hint Seen in Memo that Plame's Role Was Secret (Valerie Wilson, a CIA WMD managerial type)
I am just trying to help out RealTeen.
bump fo later
Appears to me that once the deletions (the white spaces above)were made, someone in the State Dept or the CIA no longer had a problem with it, and agreed that it could be marked UNCLASSIFIED.
As to your question about SCI, many CIA programs get the special marking SCI. I suspect that a true undercover CIA agent's identity is slightly "above SCI"; as an old boss told me (who used to work with the CIA closely) when I asked what would happen to me if I ever revealed a certain fact about one of these type programs, "they will come after you, and kill you." (smilingly).
The fact that Plame was just another analyst with the CIA is sensitive, but I don't know that such a thing was ever classified. I worked with (weekend) reservists who had CIA day-jobs and they had a cover story for who they worked for, but I could freely call them at their day-job, and everyone at our unit knew they were CIA analysts.
Alright, and thanks for the assistance and explanations. I put an update on my site to clarify, and I still think this evidence helps make the case that Plame wasn't covert, or certain declassifcation standards wouldn't have been in place.
I agree with you. Her name would have been blanked out, no doubt about it.
Missing the Big Story: The CIA's War with the White House
Now you are on the right path...Go get'em.
P.S. I am a retired Military Intelligence Analyst.
Well, thank you guys. As I said, I updated my site with further info on this, and how it assists to prove that Plame wasn't covert.
The notation "Decl: 1.6x1" means that this document is exempt from the normal 10 years downgrading given to Secret material, for reasons dealing with "Intelligence Sources and Methods".
The memo is not marked correctly, by the way, which is what leads to RealTeen's confusion. It looks to me as if the author, Mr. Ford, was trying really hard to keep the memo to just one page.
It was released on 31 Mar 2006 by Dept. of State classification authority Sharon Ahmad after all classified material was removed.
It is correct that anything remaining in this memo is considered Unclassified by State Dept. Including that in 2003 Valerie Plame worked worked as a CIA WMD Director.
ping
No, it is not. The classified material is what was redacted. What remains is now and was in 2003 unclassified.
If Plames employer was secret in 2003, then by law it would be secret today. The classification authority at State Dept. noted at the bottom left of the memo says that the memo in unclassified. Go argue with her.
The ability to see certain document regardless of classification is based on a need to know basis, not solely on the classification itself.
You have energy! Keep up the good works, it is appreciated. Aloha
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