This goes, I think, in the “too little, too late” category:
A U.S. Navy lawyer convicted of divulging information about Guantanamo Bay detainees was sentenced to six months in prison Friday.
The Virginian-Pilot reported that in addition to his prison sentence, Lt. Cmdr. Matthew M. Diaz also was informed he would be dismissed from the Navy as part of his punishment for the intelligence leak.
Diaz had been convicted on four charges from the intelligence leak, including a violation of the Espionage Act.
For several years, we have been calling for the criminal prosecution of CIA officials and others who have fed the New York Times and Washington Post a steady stream of anti-administration leaks that have damaged national security. We have also pointed out that in some instances, at least, the reporters and editors who published the leaks were exposed to criminal prosecution.
It’s good to see a leaker prosecuted, but the locus of the federal bureaucracy’s war against the administration wasn’t the Navy’s JAG staff. I think it’s fair to say that the bureaucracy’s war against the Bush administration is more or less over, and the bureaucracy won.
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