Another day, another fumble by the Obama administration (intentional or not). 11 years after former CIA operative Valerie Plame was deliberately exposed by the Bush administration as the US officials tried to apply pressure on her husband, an American diplomat criticizing the US invasion to Iraq; the Obama Administration's press service unwittingly put the real name of the CIA's top spy in Afghanistan on the 'pool report' distributed to over 6,000 journalists. The Washington Post [7] were the first to discover the FUBAR and while the CIA and White House had 'no comment', they warned that the officer and his family could be at risk if the name were published.
As RT reports, [8]
The Obama Administration’s press service unwittingly put the real name of the CIA’s top spy in Afghanistan on the ‘pool report’ distributed among journalists accompanying the American president on a surprise trip to Kabul’s Bagram Airfield base.
The identity of the man dubbed ‘Chief of Station’, the usual address to a CIA local chief, was inadvertently added to a list of 15 US officials supposed to take part in a military briefing with Obama at the base, and emailed it to the White House press pool on Saturday, the Washington Post reported.
The unusual address was observed by Scott Wilson, the Washington Post's White House bureau chief, who informed the White House press officials... The White House recognized the mistake and quickly issued a revised list that did not include the individual.
...
Up to 6,000 journalists, including some for foreign outlets, received the original version of the document, yet the identity of the CIA officer has not been disclosed.
As The Washington Post notes, [7]
The disclosure marked a rare instance in which a CIA officer working overseas had his cover — the secrecy meant to protect his actual identity — pierced by his own government.
...
[we are] withholding the agent's name for security reasons. A US official who asked for the name to be withheld described the station's chief role as "an especially dangerous post".
"An alleged affiliation with CIA would put anyone at the top of the Taliban and al-Qaeda's target list," the official said.
The identities of CIA operatives are among America's most closely-held secrets and the US complained bitterly that leaks by Edward Snowden put its agents at risk.
Not the first time...
In 2003, aides to George W Bush leaked the identity of Valerie Plame, a CIA agent, in an attempt to tarnish the reputation of her husband, a former US diplomat who criticised the Iraq war.
The CIA was also forced to pull its station chief out of Islamabad in 2010 after he was publicly named in a lawsuit brought by families of civilians killed in the US drone campaign in Pakistan.
US officials' pleas for his identity to be kept secret appeared to be working on Monday as there was no trace of the name in web news stories or on social media. It was not clear whether the agent would be able to stay in post in Afghanistan or would be withdrawn for security reasons.
We are sure that no matter how easy it is to trace the chain of command for this major misstep that no one could have seen this coming, no one knew it was happening, no one is reponsible, and no one will be held accountable...