What is so bad about being publicly known as a CIA operative?

Answer 1

Who is going to stand next to you and give you information?
What country can you enter and not have your every move detailed, despite the fact that you have a viable cover.
Even after you leave, you are endangering the contacts you made.
Even without all that, the first President Bush, former head of the CIA, had it made illegal to reveal the names of covert agents. Seriously illegal, I m sure he had no idea at the time that his own son would one day encourage the release of a name.
Plame had been covert for many years, even her neighbors had no idea, and she receives her pension as an agent, not a glorified secretary as the usual smear artists would have you believe.

You can be covert, simply by posing and even having a business that requires travel, all the while gathering information and passing on such information to others. Most spy fiction is just that, most of it is paperwork. You can even be a pen-pusher, and 'ride a desk', and still be a very effective covert operative. You guys need to stop reading so much fiction, its not all spy v.spy in trench coats and machine guns.

Answer 2

I did not think she was covert, but just a pen pusher.

How could she have been covert in anywhere but Scandinavia ???

I am pretty sure she would have been no good as a covert agent anywhere else in the world. And in my opinion this is all a liberal/Democrat blow smoke up rear end BS to say she was covert at all.

Plus correct me if I am wrong but anything classified is automatically NON classified if the CinC President authorizes it to be released

I think this whole thing stinks and considering Mr Plame is a democrat it looks like he is faking this and using it to damage his own country and President.

Out of her 20 years a total of "20 years, 7 days," including "six years, one month and 29 days of overseas service."

Six years and one month and 29 days were overseas, so for 6 years and basically 2 months she wrote memo's in europe and ate prawn sandwiched at embassies, some covert agent, I do not think she was CIA in the field with a true covert agent like Gary Berntsen. (Jaw Breaker)

Answer 3

Because you don't want to end up floating in the Danube face down!

CIA Operatives have a SHORT life expectancy once they are found out.

Answer 4

Because it reveals the identity of a covert operative. That wasn't the case with Valerie Plame, however. She wasn't even assigned to the branch which manages and directs covert operatives. She rode a desk at Langley.

Answer 5

It's very bad, it's so bad, you could put yourself and your entire network of family, friends and coworkers in danger. I dated someone who claimed he was a CIA operative, and didn't believe it for a minute, on account I know that a true agent would never reveal himself to someone, especially someone they loved who could get hurt if he did something wrong!

Answer 6

When your cover is blown it not only means the end of your career, but every country you were in will now be looking for people you associated with and kill them. This in turn makes it harder for Operatives to recruit agents, which in turn hampers our intelligence gathering efforts. How can we promise to protect our assets when we cannot even protect our own Operatives...no one will have faith in our ability to protect them should they become agents for us and therefore, we are left in the dark.

Answer 7

Simple--First of all, "outing" a CIA agent is a CRIME. Second, the effectiveness--and often the lives--of CIA agents--depends on secrecy. Bush and his gang not only compromised ability to do her job, they could easily gotten her or someone she was woriking with killed.

Not that the Bush regime gives a rat's behind about American lives.

Answer 8

Other than the fact that you will get yourself killed, and probably your family too...nothing.
Oh yes, then there is the possibility of being kidnapped, tortured to give the names of other CIA operatives, and then killed...nothing.

Answer 9

Seeing as they work undercover, with intelligence issues a lot, not much use having your name and face splashed all over the news is it?

Answer 10

It's only bad if you are covert. Like Valerie Plame was before our president took revenge on her because her husband told the American people the truth. I think they call it treason. Treason is bad!