Rumsfeld Orders Probe of Iraq Leak

WASHINGTON, Jul 19, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld ordered an internal investigation into who leaked a highly classified document on possible military actions to topple Iraq's Saddam Hussein, officials said Friday.

The investigation, which has not been publicly announced, is being conducted by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, whose primary missions are criminal investigation and counterintelligence.

The Pentagon public affairs office would not comment, but the investigation of the leak to The New York Times was confirmed by several senior officials, including some who said they had been questioned in their offices this week by agents of the Air Force Office of Special Investigation.

An official with direct knowledge of Rumsfeld's decision said it was the first such probe he has ordered since taking office in January 2001. This official, who discussed the matter on condition of anonymity, said Rumsfeld issued the order shortly after the Times story was published July 5.

Bryan Whitman, a deputy assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, said he could not comment.

Maj. Mike Richmond, spokesman for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, said that as a matter of policy he could not confirm an investigation. He said probes into news leaks are uncommon; he could not recall one in the two years he has spent with the agency.

Rumsfeld often has publicly warned Pentagon officials that leaking classified information is a criminal act.

In a July 12 memo Rumsfeld ordered Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and all other senior Pentagon officials to meet with their staffs to discuss "the seriousness of the lack of professionalism we continue to see on a daily basis" - a reference to leaks of classified information to reporters.

Rumsfeld attached to that memo a one-page unclassified CIA analysis which concluded that the al-Qaida terrorist network has learned a great deal from American and foreign news media about how to foil U.S. counterintelligence efforts. It said this has hurt the U.S. war against terrorism.

It was unclear why the Air Force's criminal investigations arm has taken the case instead of equivalent agencies within the departments of the Army or Navy or the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

In his July 5 report, New York Times reporter Eric Schmitt wrote that a person familiar with the planning document said it called for air, land and sea-based forces to attack Iraq from three directions. It envisioned tens of thousands of marines and soldiers probably invading from Kuwait.

Hundreds of warplanes based in as many as eight countries would assault thousands of targets, including airfields, roadways and fiber-optics communications sites in Iraq, the Times report said.

The document, entitled "CentCom Courses of Action," was prepared by planners at the Central Command in Tampa, Fla., the Times said. The document described an attack concept but was not an actual war plan.

One official said Friday that the investigators were having trouble correlating the information described in the Times report with a known planning document.

Asked about the Times disclosure, Rumsfeld said Monday in a CNBC interview that it appeared to him to have come from "somebody who advises somebody at a lower level" of the government.

Rumsfeld said he was disturbed by the leak. It is "putting people's lives at risk." he said. He did not specifically mention an investigation but alluded to hunting down leakers and punishing them.

"I would dearly like to find them," he said. "I think that people who know who those people are would do the country a service if they'd let me know who those people are. And I'd like to see them behind bars."

At another point in the interview Rumsfeld said, "if we find out who they are, they will be imprisoned."

An official with direct knowledge of Rumsfeld's decision said it was the first such probe he has ordered since taking office in January 2001. This official, who discussed the matter on condition of anonymity, said Rumsfeld issued the order shortly after the Times story was published July 5.

This is almost funny...

If they are smart, the DoD will find the leak and instead of immediately throwing the book at them, will use them to leak false information to the press regarding what is now consdidered the almost certain attack on Iraq. Whoever it is appears to be a source that the media trusts and are likely to run with whatever he/she gives them. The Pentagon and the White House can curn this to their advantage if handled just right.

This is almost funny...

The leak about the leak...LOL!!

"The Pentagon and the White House can curn this to their advantage if handled just right."

Maybe they already have.

The "leak" could have been intentional, y'know....

And so might this "leak about the leak"...

I can understand how, at first blush, one might find some humor in it. But it's actually a deadly serious matter that, in a war situation, could cost many lives. The problem is that the media are the ONLY industry in this country that is completely above the law. They can and do MAKE UP INFORMATION with impunity because they face zero consequences for their acts.

They can and do get bits and pieces of off-hand comments from unsuspecting people, then turn around and use those bits dishonestly to make it appear they know more than they do. In this way, they get others to spill even more information. When the reporter writes the story, he or she fills in fact gaps with speculation, innuendo, inferences, personal bias, and sometimes outright lies. They compound the damage by quoting anonymous sources using vague terms to hint at the source's level of seniority or how close to the center of a story the source is. All the while, the reporter could be lying because there is either no source or no single source, but a composite of individuals who gave up only bits of info. Or the "source" could be stolen papers or other information, as in the Pentagon Papers case. And there's nothing that can be done about it, because reporters and their bosses are virtually immune from lawsuits and prosecution.

"If they are smart, the DoD will find the leak and instead of immediately throwing the book at them, will use them to leak false information to the press regarding what is now consdidered the almost certain attack on Iraq. Whoever it is appears to be a source that the media trusts and are likely to run with whatever he/she gives them. The Pentagon and the White House can curn this to their advantage if handled just right."

They should give each suspect information that has slightly different details. When the details are leaked, they will know which suspect to haul in.

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