Former intel officers respond to CIA firing

The Washington Post gauges former intelligence officials' reactions to the firing of Mary McCarthy for leaking information to reporters - including the Post's Dana Priest - about secret CIA-run prisons in Eastern Europe:

A former intelligence official, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue, said he knew of CIA officials who had refused to attend meetings related to the rendition -- or capture and transfer -- of suspected terrorists, because of opposition or anxiety about the legality of the practice. "They believe that if one chamber of Congress goes to the other party, there will be investigations, and those involved could be impoverished by legal fees." . . .

. . . Several former intelligence officials said they were particularly alarmed about McCarthy's alleged involvement in any leaks because of where she worked at the CIA. L. Britt Snyder III, who was CIA inspector general from 1997 to 2000, said if McCarthy leaked information while working in the IG office, "we would have considered that a fairly egregious sin." The IG, he said, "gets into everything, including personal things. That makes it a little different than other places."

"CIA Officer's Job Made Any Leaks More Delicate" [Washington Post]