[Eva]

The snipers who were interviewed were obviously not in a formal press conference, the talked freely with a reporter, but I am sure that they had no idea the way that the information would be used and were not properly coached in dealing with the press. The revelation of these men's names and hometowns was much worse than the revelation that Valerie Plame had been a former CIA undercover agent, since she gave out that information to any man that she slept with after as few as three dates.

[A.A. Cunningham]

Since the story was vetted through the appropriate PAO, your explanation isn't very plausible. Ever stop to think that these individuals wanted their names in the paper or that they simply gave pseudonyms to the reporter. These guys aren't gullible FNGs being victimized by a shrewd member of the fourth estate.