To Quote an Expert

Reporting on the Government's inadvertant release of confidential civilian nuclear programs, the New York Times hilariously interviews an expert in the field of mishandling Government secrets:

“These screw-ups happen,” said John M. Deutch, a former Director of Central Intelligence and deputy secretary of defense who is now at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “It’s going further than I would have gone but doesn’t look like a serious breach.” (emphasis added)

William Broad's piece, however, failed to mention John Deutch's credentials:

The Defense Department secrets that John M. Deutch, the former Pentagon official and director of central intelligence, kept on his unsecured home computer apparently did not fall into the wrong hands, the government said in a review made public today.

Of course to Mr. Deutch, his willful violation of National Security Laws is only a screw-up (that - 'whew' - doesn't go further than the release of civilian nuclear secrets). Lower ranking people in the Defense Department would have been prosecuted; Deutch got one of Bill Clinton's pre-emptive pardens.

Will the NYT next seek Sandy Berger's opinion on protecting secrets?

Originally posted at Anatreptic