Hi Tamar....hope your family is doing well....

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>Seems to me a free press that's willing to publish things the government doesn't want us to know is one of the strongest defenses of our freedom. Yeah, they'll get it wrong sometimes and publish things they shouldn't, but I sure wouldn't want the rule to be no publishing "government secrets."

I agree completely. That's the whole purpose of the freedom of the press. As I said before, I don't see this as a freedom of the press issue, I see it as an editorial discretion issue. I am uncomfortable with revealing classified ops that are designed to protect our country.

>>I have to, stringently, disagree with that. Also, I find it difficult to believe that Hersh followed the "three sources" rule before writing. If there are three government sources willing to leak classified ops to a reporter then we are in deep kimchee.
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>I don't think the rule is three sources, but two independent sources. But I've never been a journalist, so I could be wrong.

Even two worries me. People in government with classified data have no business talking with reporters. Yes, they could expose something important that the American people should know about - like the Pentagon papers in 1971 - but they could also undermine our direct security interests. Again I point to editorial discretion.

>>I think the mantra should be "could people get killed by publishing this". If the answer is "yes", then the huge temptation to embarrass Bush should be put aside. That's what, apparently, they couldn't bring themselves to do.
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>What if people could get killed either way? Seems to me that's true of the current case. If this administration pulls us into war in Iran, lots of people will die.

No doubt. But people are already dying from Iran's involvement outside of their borders. Iran is actively supporting Iraqi insurgents who kill American GIs and innocent Iraqis. Iran funds Hezbollah and their eternal war against Israel. This kind of crap will continue in perpetuity until there is regime change in Iran.