CJS to NYT

To the Editors:

I write from the buckle of the Bible Belt, the most crimson county in the Reddest of Red States, in the belly of the fundamentalist beast, to inform George W Bush that "even the boys in Lubbock can understand" Karl Rove's treachery and betrayal.

Rove revealed the identity of an undercover CIA agent to two different reporters. This is unethical, possibly illegal, and erodes national security. Does the President really imagine that any career officer in the intelligence establishment will ever trust him again? I think not.

If Rove was an independent, a Democrat, a Green--if fact, if he was anything except the thinking part of Bush's brain, Republicans would be howling for his trial on charges of high treason. Failing that, at the very least the President should keep his *original* promise to "fire anyone responsible for such a leak." If the President does not do so, it will be a clear indication that he values his own political welfare above that of the CIA, the US government as a whole, or the American people.

Sincerely,



7.23.05: former CIA operative and Republican Larry Johnson agrees.